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©  Harris  &  Ewing 

A  rroRXKY-GENERAL  THOMAS  W.  GREGORY 
Who    directed   the    nation-wide    work    of  arresting    and    prosecuting    German 
plotters  and  of  interning  dangerous  enemy  aliens 


FIGHTING 
GERMANY'S  SPIES 

By 

FRENCH  STROTHER 


Illustrated 


Garden  City        New  York 

DOUBLEDAY  PAGE  &  COMPANY 

1918 


GIFT  OF 
H.   W.   V.MLSON 
MAP  2  2  1929 


COPYRIGHT,  I918,  BY 

DOUBLEDAY,  PAGE  &  COMPANY 

ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED,  INCLUDING  THAT  OF 

TRANSLATION  INTO  FOREIGN  LANGUAGES, 

INCLUDING  THE  SCANDINAVIAN 


FOREWORD 

^^Fighting  Germany's  Spies''  is  published  to  bring 
home  to  the  public  in  a  detailed  and  convincing 
manner  the  character  of  the  German  activities  in 
the  United  States,  By  courtesy  of  the  Bureau  of 
Investigation  of  the  Department  of  Justice  the  facts 
and  documents  of  this  narrative  have  been  verified. 


CONTENTS 

Foreword v 

Introduction xi 

I.  The  inside  story  of  the  passport 
frauds  and  the  first  glimpse  of 
Werner  Horn 3 

II.  The  inside  story  of  Werner  Horn 
and  the  first  glimpse  of  the  ship 
bombs        

III.  Robert  Fay  and  the  ship  bombs 

IV.  The  inside  story  of  the  Captain  of 

the  Eitel  Friedrich 


V.     James  J.  F.  Archibald  and  his  pro- 
German  activities 

VI.     A  tale  told  in  telegrams      .  i  . 

VII.    German  codes  and  ciphers  .      . 

VIII.    The  Tiger  of  Berlin  meets  the  Wolf 
of  Wall  Street      .... 

IX.    The  American  Protective  League 

X.    The  German-Hindu  conspiracy 

XI.     Dr.  Scheele,  chemical  spy  . 


Z7 
60 

83 

92 
109 
134 

158 
192 

223 

258 


LIST  OF  HALF-TONE  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Attorney-General  Thomas  W.  Gregory 

Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

German  agents  who  dealt  in  fraudulent 
passports i6 

The  official  German  plotters  at  Washington      32 

Captain  Thierichens   and   scenes  on   the 
Eitel  Friedrich 88 

"When  the  water  gets  to  the  boilers"  .      .  112 

Mr.  A.  Bruce  Bielaski 152 

Rintelen  and  his  confederates   ....  184 

Officers  of  the  American  Protective  League  200 

LINE  CUTS  IN  THE  TEXT 


PAGE 


A  German  attache  reminds  Bernstorff  of 
Wedell .         6 

The  successful  use  of  a  fraudulent  passport       18 

Von  Papen  and  Albert  appear  as  unneutral 
plotters 28,  29 


IX 


X 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PA« 


The  card  **of  the  guileless  stranger  from 
Tokyo" 31 

Von  Pa  pen  becomes  accessory  to  a  crime  ^} 

Two  of  Ruroede's  visitors'  credentials  34 

Horn's  appHcation  for  a  furlough     ...  39 

Werner  Horn's  plan  of  escape     ....  41 

Werner  Horn's  commission  in  the  German 
army 48,  49 

Werner  Horn's  confession    ....      56,  57 

The  Lusitania  warning 94,  95 

Code  message  transmitting  money  to  Sir 
Roger  Casement 137 

A  letter  from  John  Devoy,  an  Irish- 
American,  exposing  his  hand  in  a  plot 
with  the  Germans 140 

Extracts  from  a  German  code  expert's 
blotter 147 

Bolo's  handwriting 148 

A  tale  told  in  cablegrams     .      .      .      .  150,  151 

The  Cohalan-Irish  Revolution  message  154,  155 


INTRODUCTION 

Espionage  has  always  been  to  Americans  one 
of  the  hateful  relics  of  an  outworn  political 
system  of  Europe  from  which  America  was  fortu- 
nately free.  We  lived  in  an  atmosphere  not 
tainted  with  dynastic  ambitions  or  internal 
oppression.  We  had  no  secret  agents  spying 
and  plotting  in  other  countries  and  were  slow 
to  suspect  other  countries  of  doing  such  things 
here. 

The  war,  however,  disillusioned  us.  We  found 
our  soil  to  be  infested  with  representatives  of  an 
unscrupulous  Power  which  did  not  hesitate  to 
violate  our  hospitality  and  break  its  most  sacred 
pledges  in  using  this  country  as  a  base  for  un- 
neutral plots  against  France  and  Great  Britain. 
We  soon  learned  that  these  plots  were  directed 
against  us  as  well.  They  were  only  another 
manifestation  of  the  spirit  which  led  to  the  open 
hostility  of  Germany  which  forced  us  into  war. 

For  a  time  we  were  at  a  great  disadvantage 
in  meeting  the  situation.  We  had  no  secret 
police;  we  had  no  laws  adequate  to  deal  with 
these  novel  offenses. 

xi 


.  INTRODUCTION 

The  Department  of  Justice  met  the  situation, 
so  far  as  it  could  under  existing  law,  by  a  great 
enlargement  of  its  Bureau  of  Investigation,  and 
by  the  creation  of  a  legal  division  devoted 
entirely  to  problems  arising  out  of  the  war. 
Congress  substantially  supplied  the  deficiency 
in  the  laws  by  the  passage  of  appropriate 
statutes.  Under  the  powers  obtained  in  these 
two  directions  the  Department  proceeded  vig- 
orously to  the  suppression  of  sedition,  the  intern- 
ment of  enemy  aliens,  and  the  prosecution  of 
German  agents.  Its  success  is,  I  feel,  attested 
by  the  absence  of  disorder  in  this  country  under 
war-time  conditions.  Open  German  activities 
have  long  since  ceased  here  and  the  more  subtle 
operations  have  been  driven  so  far  under  cover 
as  to  be  ineffective.  In  this  work  the  Depart- 
ment of  Justice  has  had  the  efficient  and  loyal 
aid  of  private  citizens,  who  have  responded 
generously  to  a  patriotic  impulse,  through  the 
agency  of  the  American  Protective  League  and 
similar  organizations. 

Mr.  Strother's  narrative  covers  some  of  the 
more  outstanding  cases  of  the  period  when 
German  plotting  was  at  its  height.  The  fail- 
ure of  these  plots  and  the  retribution  visited 
upon  the  evil-doers  are  evidences,  not  merely  of 
governmental  efficiency,  but  of  that  of  old, 
age-old,  substantive   laws   of  morality,   which 

xii 


INTRODUCTION 

Germany  as  a  nation  has  undertaken  to  flout — 
as  we  now  know,  in  vain — both  here  and  else- 
where. 

T.  W.  Gregory 
Attorney-General. 
Washington,  D.  C. 
August  14,  1918. 


Xlll 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 


FIGHTING 
GERMANY'S   SPIES 

CHAPTER  I 
The  Inside  Story  of  the  Passport  Frauds 

AND 

The  First  Glimpse  of  Werner  Horn 

WHEN  Carl  Ruroede,  the  "genius"  of  the 
German  passport  frauds,  came  suddenly 
to  earth  in  the  hands  of  agents  of  the  Department 
of  Justice  and  unbosomed  himself  to  the  United 
States  Assistant  District  Attorney  in  New  York, 
he  said  sadly: 

"I  thought  I  was  going  to  get  an  Iron  Cross; 
but  what  they  ought  to  do  is  to  pin  a  little  tin 
stove  on  me." 

The  cold,  strong  hand  of  American  justice 
wrung  that  very  human  cry  from  Ruroede, 
who  was  the  central  figure  (though  far  from  the 
most  sinister  or  the  most  powerful)  in  this 
earliest  drama  of  Germany's  bad  faith  with 
neutral  America — a  drama  that  dealt  in  for- 
gery,   blackmail,    and    lies    that    revealed    in 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

action  the  motives  of  greed  and  jealousy  and 
ambition,  and  that  ended  with  three  diplo- 
mats disgraced,  one  plotter  in  the  penitentiary, 
and  another  sent  to  a  watery  grave  in  the 
Atlantic  by  a  torpedo  from  a  U-boat  of  the 
very  country  he  had  tried  to  serve.  This  is 
the  story: 

Twenty-five  days  after  the  Kaiser  touched 
the  button  which  publicly  notified  the  world 
that  Germany  at  last  had  decided  that  ''The 
Day"  had  come — to  be  exact,  on  August  25, 
1914 — Ambassador  Bernstorff  wrote  a  letter 
effusively  addressed  to  "My  very  honoured 
Mr.  Von  Wedell."  (Ruroede  had  not  yet 
appeared  on  the  scene.)  The  letteriitself  was 
more  restrained  than  the  address,  but  in  it 
Bernstorff  condescended  to  accept  tentatively 
an  offer  of  Wedell's  to  make  a  nameless  voyage. 
The  voyage  was  soon  made,  for  on  September 
24th  Wedell  left  Rotterdam,  bearing  a  letter 
from  the  German  Consul-General  there,  asking 
all  German  authorities  to  speed  him  on  his  way 
to  Berlin,  because  he  was  bearing  dispatches 
to  the  Foreign  Office.  Arrived  in  Berlin,  Wedell 
executed  his  commission  and  then  called  upon 
his  uncle,  Count  Botho  von  Wedell,  a  high 
functionary  of  the  Foreign  Office.  He  was 
aflame  with  a  great  Idea,  which  he  unfolded  to 
his  uncle.     The  idea  was  approved,  and  right 

4 


THE  PASSPORT  FRAUDS 

after  the  elections  in  November  he  was  back 
in  New  York  to  put  it  into  execution,  incidentally 
bearing  with  him  some  letters  handed  him  by 
order  of  Mr.  Ballin,  head  of  the  Hamburg 
American  Steamship  Company,  and  another 
letter  ''for  a  young  lady  who  goes  to  America 
in  the  interest  of  Germany."  If  unhappy 
Wedell  had  let  this  be  his  last  voyage — but 
that  belongs  later  in  the  story. 

WedelFs  scheme  was  this:  He  learned  in  Berlin 
that  Germany  had  at  home  all  the  common 
soldiers  she  expected  to  need,  but  that  more 
officers  were  wanted.  He  was  told  that  Ger- 
many cared  not  at  all  whether  the  100,000 
reservists  in  America  got  home  or  not,  but 
that  she  cared  very  much  indeed  to  get  the 
800  or  1,000  officers  in  North  and  South  America 
back  to  the  Fatherland.  Nothing  but  the 
ocean  and  the  British  fleet  stood  in  their  way. 
The  ocean  might  be  overcome.     But  the  British 

fleet ?  Wedell  proposed  the  answer:  He  would 

buy  passports  from  longshoremen  in  New  York 
— careless  Swedes  or  Swiss  or  Spaniards  to 
whom  $20  was  of  infinitely  more  concern  than 
a  mere  lie — and  send  the  officers  to  Europe, 
armed  with  these  documents,  as  neutrals  travel- 
ling on  business.  Once  in  Norway  or  Spain  or 
Italy,  to  get  on  into  Germany  would  be  easy. 

For  a  few  weeks  Wedell  got  along  famously. 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 


He  bought  passports  and  papers  showing  nativity 
from  Norwegian,  Swedish,  Danish,  and  Swiss 
longshoremen  and  sailors.  Meantime,  he  got 
in  touch  with  German  reserve  officers  and  passed 
them  on  to  Europe  on  these  passports. 


•OSTAL  TELEGRAPH  -  COMMERCIAL  CABLES 


TELEGRAM 


N 


■*^ 


.^&w  0&</Iu^^oUv 


^^ 


A  GERMAN  ATTACHE  REMINDS  BERNSTORFF  OF  WEDELL 
This  telegram  is  from  Haniel  von  Haimhausen,  the  counsellor  of  the 
German  Embassy  in  Washington,  and  was  sent  in  response  to  an  inquiry 
from  Bernstorff  for  the  name  of  the  man  who  had  offered  to  act  as  a 
messenger  to  Germany  for  him.     The  message  reads: 

Count    Bernstorff,    care    Ritz    Carlton.     Hans   Adam  von   Wedell    attorney   fifteen 
Willianfi  Street,  New  York  he  has  been  introduced  by  consul  Hossenfelder,  Haniel. 

But  he  was  not  content  with  these  foreign 
passports.  In  the  case  of  a  few  exceptionally 
valuable  German  officers  he  wished  to  have 
credentials  that  would  be  above  all  suspicion. 
Consequently,  he  set  about  to  gather  a  few 
American  passports.  Here  his  troubles  began, 
and  here  he  added  the  gravest  burden  to  his 

6 


THE  PASSPORT  FRAUDS 

already  great  load  of .  culpabilities.  For  Von 
Wedell  was  an  American  citizen,  and  proud 
of  it.  But  he  was  prouder  still  of  his  German 
origin  and  his  high  German  connections,  and 
in  his  eagerness  to  serve  them  he  threw  over- 
board his  loyalty  to  the  land  of  his  adoption. 
Von  Wedell  applied  to  a  friend  of  his,  a  cer- 
tain Tammany  lawyer  of  pro-German  sympa- 
thies, who  had  supplied  him  with  a  room 
belonging  to  a  well-known  fraternal  organiza- 
tion as  a  safe  base  from  which  to  handle  his 
work  in  passports.  What  he  wanted  was  an 
agent  who  was  an  American  and  who  had  politi- 
cal acquaintanceship  that  would  enable  him 
to  work  with  less  suspicion  and  with  wider  or- 
ganization in  gathering  American  passports. 
Through  the  lawyer  he  came  in  contact  with^an 
American,  who  for  the  'purposes  of  this  story 
may  be  called  Mr.  Carrots,  because  that  is  not 
his  name  but  is  remotely  like  it.  Carrots 
seemed  willing  to  go  into  the  enterprise  and 
at  a  meeting  in  Von  Wedell's  room  Von  Wedell 
carefully  unfolded  the  scheme,  taking  papers 
from  a  steel  cabinet  in  the  corner  to  show  a 
further  reason  why  the  American  passports  he 
already  had  would  soon  be  useless.  This  reason 
was  that  the  Government  was  about  to  issue 
an  order  requiring  that  a  photograph  of  the 
bearer  should  be  affixed  to  the  passport  and  that 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

on  this  photograph  should  appear  half  of  the 
embossing  raised  by  the  impression  of  the 
seal  of  the  Department  of  State.  He  agreed 
to  pay  Carrots  ^20  apiece  for  all  genuine  pass- 
ports he  would  supply  to  him.  Carrots  accepted 
his  proposal  and  departed. 

Instead  of  going  out  to  buy  passports,  he 
went  at  once  to  the  Surveyor  of  the  Port  of  New 
York,  Mr.  Thomas  E.  Rush,  and  told  him  what 
Wedell  was  doing.  Mr.  Rush  promptly  got 
in  touch  with  his  chief  in  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment at  Washington,  who  referred  the  matter 
to  the  State  Department,  and  they,  in  turn,  to 
the  Department  of  Justice.  The  result  was 
that  Carrots  went  back  to  Wedell  about  a  week 
later  and  told  him  he  would  not  be  able  to 
go  on  with  the  work  but  would  supply  some- 
one to  take  his  place.  This  was  satisfactory  to 
Wedell. 

In  the  meantime,  Wedell  had  introduced 
Carrots  to  a  fellow-conspirator,  Carl  Ruroede, 
a  clerk  in  the  ship  forwarding  department  of 
Oelrichs  &  Company — a  man  of  little  position, 
but  fired  by  the  war  with  the  ambition  to  make 
a  name  in  German  circles  that  would  put  him 
in  a  position  to  succeed  Oelrichs  &  Company 
as  the  general  agent  of  the  North  German 
Lloyd  in  New  York. 

About  this  time  Wedell  lost  his  nerve.     He 


THE  PASSPORT  FRAUDS 

was  a  lawyer  and  realized  some  of  the  possible 
consequences  of  certain  of  his  acts.  He  had  had 
occasion  to  forge  names  to  two  passports;  and 
also  he  found  out  that  he  had  reasons  to  suspect 
that  he  was  under  surveillance.  These  reasons 
were  very  good:  he  had  arranged  for  the  trans- 
portation to  Italy  of  a  German  named  Doctor 
Stark,  using  the  passport  of  a  friend  of  his  in 
the  newspaper  business  named  Charles  Raoul 
Chatillon.  Wedell  got  wind  of  the  fact  that 
Stark  had  been  taken  off  the  steamer  Duca  de 
Aosta  at  Gibraltar,  and  was  being  detained 
while  the  British  looked  up  his  credentials. 

Wedell  by  this  time  was  in  a  most  unhappy 
plight.  Bernstorff  and  Von  Papen  had  no  use 
for  him  because  he  had  been  bragging  about 
the  great  impression  he  was  going  to  make  upon 
the  Foreign  Office  in  Berlin  by  his  work.  If 
any  impressions  were  to  be  made  upon  the 
Foreign  Office  in  Berlin  by  anybody  in  America, 
Bernstorff  and  Von  Papen  wanted  to  make  them. 
Wedell  was  so  dangerously  under  suspicion 
that  Von  Papen,  Von  Igel,  and  his  Tammany 
lawyer  friend  had  all  warned  him  he  had  better 
get  out  of  the  country.  Wedell  took  their 
advice  and  fled  to  Cuba. 

The  substitute  whom  Carrots  had  promised 
now  entered  the  case,  in  the  person  of  a  man 
who  called  himself  Aucher,   but  who  was   in 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

reality  a  special  agent  of  the  Department  of 
Justice.  Aucher  was  not  introduced  to  Ruroede, 
the  now  active  German,  and  so,  when  he  began 
his  operations,  he  confronted  the  very  difficult 
task  of  making  his  own  connections  with  a 
naturally  suspicious  person. 

Carrots  had  been  dealing  with  Ruroede  after 
Wedell's  disappearance;  and,  by  the  time  he 
was  ready  to  quit,  Ruroede  had  told  him  that 
*' everything  was  off  for  the  present,"  but  that 
if  he  would  drop  around  again  to  his  office 
about  January  7,  1915,  he  might  make  use  of 
him.  Aucher,  now  on  the  case,  did  not  wait 
for  that  date,  but  on  December  i8th  called  on 
Ruroede  at  his  office  at  room  204  of  the  Mari- 
time Building,  at  No.  8  Bridge  Street,  across 
the  way  from  the  Customs  House. 

In  this  plainly  furnished  office  Aucher  ap- 
peared in  the  guise  of  a  Bowery  tough.  He 
succeeded  admirably  in  this  role — so  well, 
indeed,  that  Ruroede  afterward  declared  that 
he  '*  succeeded  wonderfully  in  impressing  upon 
my  mind  that  he  was  a  gangman,  and  I  had 
visions  of  slung  shots,  pistol  shots,  and  hold- 
ups when  he  saw  him.  Aucher  opened  the  con- 
versation by  announcing: 

"Fm  a  friend  of  Carrots." 

** That's  interesting,"  was  Ruroede's  only 
acknowledgment. 

10 


THE  PASSPORT  FRAUDS 

'*He's  the  guy  that's  getting  them  passports 
for  you,"  went  on  Aucher,  "and  all  I  wants 
to  know  is,  did  you  give  him  any  cush?" 

**What  do  you  mean?"  asked  Ruroede. 

"'Nix  on  that!"  Aucher  exclaimed.  "You 
know  what  I  mean.  Did  you  give  that  fellow 
any  money  .^" 

To  which  Ruroede  replied :  "  I  don't  see  why 
I  should  tell  you  if  I  did." 

"  Well, "  retorted  Aucher,  "  I'll  tell  you  why. 
I'm  the  guy  that  delivers  the  goods,  and  he 
swears  he  never  got  a  penny  from  you.  Now 
did  he?" 

It  was  at  this  point  that  Ruroede  had  his 
visions  of  slung  shots,  so  he  admitted  he  had 
paid  Carrots  ^loo  only  a  few  days  before. 

"Well,"  demanded  Aucher,  "ain't  there  going 
to  be  any  more?" 

"Nope.  Not  now,'  Ruroede  replied.  "May- 
be next  month." 

"Now  see  here,"  said  Aucher.  "Let's  cut 
this  guy  out.  He's  just  nothing  but  a  booze 
fighter,  and  he's  been  kidding  you  for  money 
without  delivering  the  goods.  What's  the  mat- 
ter with  just  fixing  it  up  between  ourselves?" 

Ruroede  now  tried  to  put  Aucher  off  till 
Christmas,  having  recalled  meanwhile  that  the 
steamer  Bergensfjord  was  to  sail  on  January 
2d,    and    that    he   might    need    passports    for 

II 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

officers  travelling  on  that  ship.  But  Aucner 
protested  that  he  was  "broke/'  and  further 
impressed  on  Ruroede  that  he  had  gotten  no 
money  from  Carrots  or  Wedell  for  his  work 
for  them.  He  also  produced  six  letters  written 
by  the  State  Department  in  answer  to  applicants 
for  passports,  and  finally  convinced  Ruroede 
of  his  good  faith  and  that  he  ought  to  start 
him  to  work  right  away.  They  haggled  over 
the  price,  and  finally  agreed  on  $20  apiece  for 
passports  for  native-born  Americans  and  $30 
apiece  for  passports  of  naturalized  citizens — the 
higher  price  for  getting  the  latter  because  they 
involved  more  red-tape  and  hence  more  risk. 
Aucher  was  to  come  back  on  December  24th 
and  bring  the  passports  and  get  some  money 
on  account. 

On  that  day  Aucher  called  at  Ruroede's 
office,  and  after  further  quarrelling  about  Car- 
rots and  his  honesty,  Ruroede  declared  that 
he  was  ready  to  do  business.  Aucher  objected 
to  the  presence  of  a  young  man  in  the  room 
with  them,  and  Ruroede  replied: 

"Oh,  he's  all  right.  He's  my  son,  and  you 
needn't   be   afraid   to   talk  with  him  around." 

Aucher  then  produced  an  American  passport, 
No.  45,573,  made  out  in  the  name  of  Howard 
Paul  Wright,  for  use  in  Holland  and  Germany. 
It  was  a  perfectly  good  passport,  too,  as  it  had 

12 


THE  PASSPORT  FR.\UDS 

been  especially  made  out  for  the  purpose  by 
the  Department  of  State  at  the  request  of  the 
Department  of  Justice.  It  bore  Mr.  Bryan's 
genuine  signature,  and  a  photograph  of 
"Wright/'  who  was  another  agent  of  the  Bureau 
of  Investigation.  Aucher  also  declared  he  was 
on  the  way  toward  getting  the  other  five  pass- 
ports. Ruroede  threw  the  Wright  passport  on 
his  desk  and  said: 

"I'll  keep  this.  Go  ahead  and  get  the 
others." 

"What   about   money .^"   demanded   Aucher. 

"I'll  pay  you  ^25  for  it — no,  I'll  do  better 
than  that.  To  show  you  I  mean  business, 
take  that,"  and  he  threw  a  $100  bill  on  the 
table.  Ruroede  also  gave  Aucher  photographs 
of  four  German  officers,  and  begged  him  to 
get  passports  right  away  to  fit  their  descriptions, 
because  he  wanted  to  get  these  men  off  on  the 
Norwegian  Line  steamer  Bergensfjord,  sailing 
January  2d.  He  added  that  the  officers  of 
the  Norw^egian  Line  had  all  been  "smeared" 
(otherwise  "fixed")  and  that  they  would  "stand 
for  anything."  He  also  said  that  he  would 
take  at  least  forty  more  passports  from  Aucher, 
and  that  he  would  want  them  right  along  for 
six  months  or  a  year,  depending  on  the  length 
of  the  war. 

Aucher    delivered    two    more    passports    to 

13 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

Ruroede  in  his  office  on  the  morning  of  Decem- 
ber 30th.  Ruroede  was  rather  indifferent  about 
getting  them,  because — alas  for  the  glory  of 
the  '* invincible''  Prussian  arms! — two  of  his 
German  officers  had  gotten  "cold  feet"  and  had 
refused  to  go.  Ruroede  told  Aucher  to  come 
back  at  two  o'clock  and  he  would  give  him 
$100.  Aucher  invited  Ruroede  to  have  luncheon 
with  him,  and  as  they  left  the  building  Ruroede 
explained  with  much  pride  that  he  had  chosen 
his  office  here  because  the  building  had  several 
entrances  on  different  sides  of  the  block,  and 
he  used  one  entrance  only  a  few  days  at  a  time 
and  then  changed  to  another  to  avoid  suspicion. 

The  Government's  special  agent  complimented 
him  highly  on  this  bit  of  cleverness  in  the  art 
of  evasion.  Five  minutes  later  the  two  were 
sitting  at  a  lunch  counter  with  another  special 
agent  casually  lounging  in  and  taking  the  seat 
next  to  his  fellow  operative,  where  he  could 
overhear  and  corroborate  the  account  of  Ru- 
roede's  conversation. 

After  a  discussion  of  Wedell's  forgeries  and 
present  whereabouts,  and  a  further  discussion  of 
the  buying  of  passports  (in  which  Ruroede 
confided  to  Aucher  that  ''there  is  a  German 
fund  that  was  sent  over  here  for  that  purpose") 
the  pair  walked  back  toward  Ruroede's  office. 
At    the    Whitehall    Street    entrance    Ruroede 

14 


THE  PASSPORT  FRAUDS 

told  Aucher  to  come  around  to  the  Bridge 
Street  entrance  in  about  fifteen  minutes  to 
get  the  money,  and  that  in  the  meantime  he 
would  send  his  son  out  to  cash  a  check  so  that 
he  could  deliver  it  in  bills.  Aucher  spent  part 
of  the  fifteen  minutes  signalling  to  four  other 
special  agents  who  had  reinforced  him,  and  then 
went  around  to  the  Bridge  Street  entrance, 
with  one  of  his  confederates  in  sight. 

In  a  few  moments,  Ruroede's  son  rushed  out 
with  a  bank  book  in  his  hand.  Aucher  stopped 
him  and  told  him  he  ought  to  have  a  coat  on,  a 
device  to  let  Aucher's  fellow  operative  see  him 
talking  to  the  boy  so  he  could  identify  him. 
The  boy  then  went  on  to  the  bank,  followed  by 
Aucher's  confederate,  who  saw  him  cash  the 
check  and  followed  him  back  to  the  building. 

When  the  boy  returned,  Aucher  again  spoke 
to  him  and  said:  ''Tell  your  father  I  will  be 
in  the  cafe  at  Whitehall  and  Bridge  streets  and 
that  he  is  to  meet  me  there.  I  don't  think  it 
is  a  good  thing  for  anybody  to  see  me  hanging 
around  the  front  entrance." 

Aucher  then  went  on  into  the  cafe  and  sig- 
nalled to  the  other  three  operatives  to  follow 
him.  He  took  a  seat  in  a  bootblack's  chair 
near  the  entrance  and  proceeded  to  have  his 
shoes  blacked.  In  about  ten  minutes  Ru- 
roede's son  came  out  and  was  about  to  pass  by 

IS 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

him  when  Aucher  hailed  him.  Ruroedc's  son 
then  took  a  sealed  envelope  from  his  inside 
pocket  and  handed  it  to  Aucher. 

''Where  is  your  father.^"     Aucher  asked. 

"Oh,  he's  got  a  man  upstairs  with  him," 
said  young  Ruroede,  ''and  he  couldn't  come 
down." 

"Wait  a  minute,"  said  Aucher,  and  tore  open 
the  envelope  in  the  presence  of  Ruroede's  son, 
and,  so  that  the  other  special  agents  could 
see  him  do  it,  counted  out  ten  ^lo  bills,  $ioo  in 
all.  As  he  was  counting  them,  the  operative 
who  had  followed  Ruroede's  son  to  the  bank 
came  in  and  shouldered  the  boy  to  one  side 
and  then  stood  right  by  him  while  the  money 
was  being  counted.  Aucher  went  on  to  impress 
on  Ruroede's  son  that  business  was  business 
and  that  the  best  of  friends  sometimes  fell  out 
over  money  matters;  that  his  father  might 
have  unintentionally  counted  out  $80  or  $go 
instead  of  the  full  $100  and  It  was  safer  to  take 
some  precautions  than  to  take  a  chance  of 
creating  bad  blood  between  them.  He  then 
Invited  Ruroede's  son  to  have  a  drink  with 
him,  which  he  did,  both  of  them  taking  the 
strongest  Prussian  drink — milk.  When  they 
were  about  to  part  on  Whitehall  Street  Aucher 
told  Ruroede's  son  to  tell  his  father  he  would 
be  down  the  next  morning  with  the  other  two 

16 


GERMAN  AGENTS  WHO  DEALT  IN  FRAUDULENT  PASSPORTS 
H.  A.  Von  Wedell  Carl  Ruroede 

AMERICANS  HIRED  TO  BLOW  UP  SHIPS  AND  FACTORIES 
C.  C.  Crowley  Lewis  J.  Smith 


THE  PASSPORT  FRAUDS 

passports  he  had  mentioned  to  him,  and  again 
impressed  on  the  boy  the  importance  of  accuracy 
in  money  matters.  Aucher  then  returned  to 
headquarters  with  the  other  special  agents  and 
Hsted  the  distinguishing  marks  on  the  bills 
and  marked  them  for  future  identification. 

The  next  morning  Aucher  telephoned  to 
Ruroede  and  told  him  he  had  been  able  to  get 
only  one  of  the  two  passports  he  wanted,  giving 
as  the  excuse  for  his  failure  to  get  the  other 
the  story  that  it  had  been  promised  to  him  by  a 
man  working  on  a  job  in  Long  Island  and  that 
this  man  had  met  with  an  accident  and  was 
in  the  hospital;  that  it  would  take  a  day  or 
two  to  go  out  there  to  get  a  written  order 
from  him  to  a  brother  who  would  turn  the  pass- 
port over  to  Aucher.  Ruroede  accepted  an 
invitation  to  take  luncheon  with  Aucher  at 
Davidson's  restaurant  at  the  corner  of  Broad 
and  Bridge  streets. 

Shortly  after  noon  they  met  on  the  street 
and  went  into  the  restaurant  together.  A  few 
minutes  after  they  were  seated  two  of  the 
special  agents  came  in  and  took  a  table  about 
fifteen  feet  away.  After  Aucher  had  ordered 
lunch  for  himself  and  Ruroede,  he  took  out  of 
his  pocket  another  of  the  series  of  genuine 
passports  supplied  by  the  State  Department,  to 
which  he  had  attached  one  of  the  photographs 

17 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 


J^^^^/^/"^ 


THE  SUCCESSFUL  USE  OF  A  FRAUDULENT  PASSPORT 
An  English  translation  of  the  letter,  the  first  and  last  pages  of  which 
are  shown  above,  follows: 

S.  S.  Kristianiafjord,  Bordjen,  Nov.  20,  1914.  Most  honoured  Mr.  Ruroede:  As  you 
see,  my  voyage  across  succeeded  magnificently  with  your  kind  help.  The  weather  until 
Sunday  was  fine — then  three  days'  storm.  The  beginning  was  not  of  a  nature  to  inspire 
confidence,  for  five  hours  after  we  had  left  New  York  we  were  stopped  by  a  cruiser  and  for 
two  hours  the  ship's  papers  were  searched  for  contraband.  We  had  also  some  copper  on 
board,  but  that  was  for  Norway,  whereupon  they  let  us  go.  Our  Captain  then  ran  straight 
North  to  the  63  latitude.  We  nearly  touched  Iceland  in  order  to  get  out  of  the  way  of 
other  cruisers.  It  was  only  while  we  were  making  for  Bergen  from  a  northerly  direction 
yesterday  that  a  cruiser  overtook  and  stopped  us,  and  for  a  short  while  six  of  your  men  were 
feeling  pretty  shaky,  especially  I,  for  among  the  18  first-class  passengers,  more  than  half 
were  Germans,  also  a  former  vice-consul  from  Japan  (now  captain  of  cavalry)  of  the 
Bonn  Hussars,  Naval  Officer  from  China,  and  others.  The  incident  lasted  only  a  half 
hour.     After  searching   for  ship's   papers,   the  gentlemen   disappeared,  and  we  breathed 

more  freely,  and  drank  a  cocktail  to  the and  your  prosperity.  Once  more  many  thanks 

for  your  assistance.  May  you  help  many  others  as  well.  With  best  wishes.  Yours, 
Edward  Eaton,  in  Japan  named  Eichelbert. 

Ruroede  had  given  him  for  this  purpose.  He 
handed  the  passport  to  Ruroede,  who  opened 
only  one  end  of  it,  just  enough  to  glance  at  the 
photograph  and  seal. 

"That's  fine,"  said  Ruroede,  and  was  about 
to  slip  it  into  his  pocket  when  Aucher  seized  it 
and  exclaimed: 

18 


THE  PASSPORT  FRAUDS 

''  Fine  ?  I  should  say, "  and  opened  the  pass- 
port wide  so  that  one  of  the  other  special  agents 
could  see  the  red  seal  on  it.  "Just  look  at 
that  description.  Eh?  He  is  the  fellow  wfth 
the  military  bearing  and  I  gave  him  a  description 
I  figured  a  man  like  him  should  answer  to.'' 

At  this  point,  the  special  agent  who  had 
seen  the  seal  left  his  seat  at  the  table  and 
walked  to  the  cashier's  desk.  As  he  passed, 
Ruroede  was  holding  the  passport  in  his  hands 
and  Aucher  was  pointing  out  the  description. 
Ruroede  then  put  the  passport  into  his  pocket 
and  said  again:  "That's  fine." 

Aucher  then  opened  a  discussion  of  Von 
Wedell's  career  and  disappearance.  Ruroede 
was  very  contemptuous  of  the  missing  man. 
"He  was  a  plain  fool,"  he  said.  "He  paid 
$3,500  altogether  and  got  very  little  in  return. 
A  fellow  came  to  him  one  day  and  told  him  he 
could  get  him  American  passports  and  Von 
Wedell  said:  *A11  right;  go  ahead.'  The  fel- 
low returned  later  and  said  he  would  have  to 
have  some  expense  money  and  he  gave  him  $10. 
A  little  while  later  a  friend  of  the  first  man 
came  to  Von  Wedell  wanting  expense  money. 
When  Von  Wedell  decided  to  put  him  off,  he 
became  threatening  and  Von  Wedell,  fearing 
he  might  tell  the  Government  authorities, 
gave    him    some    money.     A    few    days    later 

19 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

about  twenty  fellows  came  looking  for  Von 
Wedell.  But  quite  aside  from  that  sort '  of 
business  Von  WedelFs  foolishness  in  forging 
names  on  two  American  passports  is  the  thing 
that  made  him  get  away." 

**Did  I  understand  you  to  say/'  asked 
Aucher,  "that  he  had  gone  to  join  his  wife?" 

**No,"  replied  Ruroede,  ''she  will  be  in 
Germany  before  him.  She  sailed  last  Tuesday. 
He  went  to  Cuba  first  and  there  got  a  Mexican 
passport  of  some  sort  that  will  take  him  to 
Spain.  He  ought  to  be  in  Barcelona  to-day 
and  from  there  go  to  Italy,  and  then  from  there 
work  his  way  into  Germany." 

*'You  say  Von  Wedell  spent  $3,500  of  his 
own  money .? "  Aucher  asked. 

"No,  no,"  exclaimed  Ruroede,  "he  got  it  from 
the  fund." 

*'Well,  who  puts  up  this  money — who's  back 
of  it.?" 

"The  Government." 

"The  German  Government  ?" 

"Yes,"  said  Ruroede.  "You  see  it  is  this 
way:  There  is  a  captain  here  who  is  attached 
to  the  German  Embassy  at  Washington.  He  has 
a  list  of  German  reservists  in  this  country  and 
is  in  touch  with  the  German  consulates  all 
through  the  country  and  in  Peru,  Mexico, 
Chile,  etc.     He  gets  in  touch  with  them,  and 

20 


THE  PASSPORT  FRAUDS 

the  consuls  send  reservists,  who  want  to  go  to 
the  front,  on  to  New  York.  When  they  get 
here,  this  captain  tells  them:  'Well,  I  can't 
do  anything  for  you,  but  you  go  down  to  see 
Ruroede/  Sometimes  he  gives  them  his 
personal  card." 

*'Is  this  captain  in  reserve?"  Aucher  inter- 
rupted. 

**0h,  no,  he  is  active,"  Ruroede  replied. 
*'You  see,"  he  continued,  "he  draws  on  this 
fund  for  ^200  or  $300  or  ^1,000,  whatever  he 
may  need,  and  the  checks  are  made  to  read 
'on  account  of  reservists.'  You  see,  they 
have  to  have  food  and  clothing,  also,  so  there 
is  nothing  to  show  that  this  money  is  paid  out 
for  passports  or  anything  like  that.  I  meet  this 
captain  once  a  week  or  so,  and  tell  him  what 
I  am  doing  and  he  gives  me  whatever  money 
I  need.  You  see,  there  must  be  no  connection 
between  him  and  me;  no  letters,  no  accounts, 
nothing  in  writing.  If  I  were  caught  and  were 
to  say  what  I  have  told  you,  this  captain 
would  swear  that  he  never  met  me  in  his  life 
before." 

Who  this  captain  was  became  perfectly 
clear  through  an  odd  happening  two  days  later. 
On  that  day,  January  2,  1915,  Aucher  tele- 
phoned to  Ruroede  at  his  office  and  made  an 
appointment  to  meet  him  at  a  quarter  of  one. 

21 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

This  meeting  will  doubtless  remain  forever 
memorable  in  Ruroede*s  experience. 

At  twelve-thirty  a  whole  flock  of  special 
agents  left  the  oflice  of  the  Bureau  of  Investi- 
gation of  the  Department  of  Justice  in  the 
Park  Row  Building.  There  were  nine  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Department  in  the  group. 
When  they  got  near  Ruroede's  office  they 
were  joined  by  two  others  who  had  been  shadow- 
ing Ruroede.  They  had  located  him  at  the 
Eastern  Hotel,  several  blocks  away,  where  he 
was  at  the  moment  with  one  of  the  German 
officers  who  planned  to  sail  that  day  on  the 
Norwegian  Line  steamer  Bergensfjord  with  one 
of  the  false  passports. 

Shortly  after  one  o'clock  one  of  the  special 
agents  notified  the  group  that  Ruroede  had 
returned  to  his  office  and  then  this  operative, 
and  one  other,  went  to  the  Customs  House 
and  stationed  themselves  at  a  window  opposite 
Ruroede's  office  to  wait  for  a  signal  which 
Aucher  was  to  give  when  he  had  delivered 
the  passport  to  Ruroede. 

When  Aucher  met  Ruroede  in  the  latter's 
office  Ruroede's  son  was  present,  but  in  a  few 
moments  the  younger  man  took  his  leave,  and 
his  departure  was  noted  by  one  of  the  agents 
outside.  After  a  few  minutes'  conversation 
Aucher  handed  Ruroede  the  missing  passport 

22 


THE  PASSPORT  FRAUDS 

and  made  his  signal  to  the  two  men  inside  the 
Customs  House  window.  These  men  reported 
to  the  main  group  on  the  street  and  thereupon 
the  whole  flock  descended  on  Ruroede's  office 
and  placed  both  Ruroede  and  Aucher  under 
arrest. 

They  seized  all  of  Ruroede's  papers  before 
they  took  him  away,  including  the  passport 
which  Aucher  had  just  delivered  to  him. 
Aucher  put  up  a  fight  against  his  brother 
ofl[icers,  so  as  to  make  Ruroede  believe  that  his 
arrest  was  genuine,  but  was  quickly  subdued 
and  taken  away.  A  few  minutes  later  Ruroede 
also  was  taken  from  his  office  over  to  the 
offices  of  the  Bureau  of  Investigation,  but  to 
another  room  than  Aucher.  Operatives  were 
left  behind  in  Ruroede's  office,  and  in  a  little 
while  Ruroede's  son  came  in.  He,  too,  was 
arrested  and  taken  to  still  another  part  of  the 
office  of  the  Bureau. 

Now  there  entered  Ruroede's  office  a  stran- 
ger, who  to  this  day  does  not  know  that  he 
unwittingly  gave  the  officers  of  the  United 
States  Government  the  information  that  Cap- 
tain Von  Papen  was  directly  responsible  for 
the  passport  frauds.  This  man  entered  while 
one  of  the  operatives  was  busily  gathering  up 
the  papers  on  Ruroede's  desk.  He  said  he 
wanted   to   see   Mr.    Ruroede.     The   operative 

23 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

asked  him  what  his  business  was,  and  he  re- 
pHed  that  he  had  a  letter  to  give  him;  and  an- 
swering an  inquiry,  he  said  this  letter  was  given 
him  by  Captain  Von  Papen,  to  be  delivered  to 
Ruroede. 

The  operative  calmly  informed  the  caller 
that  he  was  Mr.  Ruroede's  son  and  that  he 
could  give  the  letter  to  him.  The  stranger 
refused,  so  the  operative  told  him  that  his 
''father,''  Ruroede,  would  be  in  in  a  few  min- 
utes. After  the  few  minutes  were  up,  he  told  the 
caller  that  he  was  sure  that  his  ''father"  would 
not  return  after  all,  and  that  he  had  better  go 
with  him  to  where  his  "father'*  was.  The 
stranger  agreed  and  they  left  the  office  to- 
gether, the  operative  taking  him  directly  to 
the  office  of  the  Bureau  of  Investigation. 

On  the  way,  the  stranger  decided  to  give  him 
the  letter  from  Captain  Von  Papen,  and  also 
told  him  that  he  had  come  from  Tokyo  by  way 
of  San  Francisco;  that  he  was  very  anxious 
to  get  back  to  Germany;  and  that  he  was  sorry 
he  was  not  sailing  on  the  boat  leaving  that  day. 
He  knew,  he  said,  that  Ruroede  had  a  great 
many  officers  sailing  on  the  ship  that  day,  and 
asked  if  he  thought  the  operative's  ''father" 
could  make  an  arrangement  to  start  him  to 
Germany,  too.  He  gave  as  a  reason  for  his 
urgency  the  fact  that  he  had  wdth  him  eight 

24 


THE  PASSPORT  FRAUDS 

trunks  which  contained  very  important  papers 
in  connection  with  the  war  that  should  be  de- 
livered in  Berlin  without  delay. 

Upon  arriving  at  the  office  of  the  Bureau  of 
Investigation  the  operative  excused  himself 
for  a  moment  and  went  into  another  room, 
where  he  concocted  a  plan  with  a  fellow  agent 
to  pose  as  the  senior  Ruroede.  The  operative 
then  brought  the  stranger  in  and  introduced 
his  confederate  as  his  father.  The  stranger 
gave  this  agent  of  the  Department  his  card 
which  was  printed  in  German  and,  which  trans- 
lated into  English,  read,  "Wolfram  von  Knorr, 
Captain  of  Cruiser,  Naval  Attache,  Imperial 
German  Embassy,  Tokyo." 

But  let  us  leave  the  guileless  caller  in  the 
hands  of  the  guileful  agent  of  Justice  for  a 
few  moments,  returning  to  him  a  little  later. 

Meanwhile,  four  of  the  agents  from  the 
Department — the  minute  they  received  the 
signal  that  Ruroede  was  under  arrest — has- 
tened to  the  Barge  Office  dock  and  boarded 
the ;( revenue  cutter  Manhattan,  on  which  they 
overtook  the  Norwegian  Line  steamship  Ber- 
gensfjord  at  four  o'clock,  about  one  half  hour 
after  it  had  set  sail.  They  were  accompanied 
by  several  customs  inspectors  and  ordered 
the  Bergensfjord  to  heave  to.  All  the  male 
passengers  on  board  were  lined  up.     Strange 

25 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

as  It  may  seem,  they  discovered  four  Germans, 
of  such  unmistakable  names  as  Sachse,  Meyer, 
Wegener,  and  Muller,  travelling  under  such 
palpably  English  and  Norwegian  names  as 
Wright,  Hansen,  Martin,  and  Wilson.  Stranger 
still,  they  all  turned  out  to  be  reserve  officers 
in  the  German  army.  Sache  proved  to  be 
travelling  as  none  other  than  our  friend  "  Howard 
Paul  Wright,"  for  whom  Aucher  had  supplied 
Ruroede  with  the  passport — as,  indeed,  he  had 
for  the  three  others. 

Meanwhile,  Ruroede  was  the  centre  of  an- 
other little  drama  that  lasted  until  well  toward 
midnight.  He  was  being  urged  by  the  United 
States  Assistant  District  Attorney  to  *'come 
across"  with  the  facts  about  his  activities  in 
the  passport  frauds,  and  he  had  stood  up  pretty 
well  against  the  persuasions  and  hints  of  the 
attorney  and  the  doubts  and  fears  of  his  own 
mind.  About  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  as  he 
was  for  the  many'th  time  protesting  his  ig- 
norance and  his  innocence,  another  agent  of 
the  Bureau  of  Investigation  walked  across  the 
far  end  of  the  dimly  lit  room — in  one  door  and 
out  another — accompanied  by  a  fair-haired  lad 
of  nineteen. 

'*My  God!"  exclaimed  Ruroede, ''have  they 
got  my  son,  too?  The  boy  knows  nothing  at 
all  about  this." 

26 


THE  PASSPORT  FRAUDS 

This  little  ghost-walking  scene,  borrowed 
from  "Hamlet,  '  broke  down  Ruroede's  reserve, 
and  he  came  out  with  pretty  much  all  the 
story,  ending  the  melancholy  exclamation  with 
which  this  story  began:  '*I  thought  I  was 
going  to  get  an  Iron  Cross;  but  what  they  ought 
to  do  is  to  pin  a  little  tin  stove  on  me." 

Ruroede  admitted  that  he  had  met  Cap- 
tain Von  Papen  in  New  York  frequently  and 
that  Von  Papen  had  given  him  money  at  dif- 
ferent times,  but  he  denied  that  this  money 
was  given  him  for  use  in  furnishing  passports. 
On  this  point  he  stood  fast,  and  to  this  day 
he  has  not  directly  implicated  Von  Papen  in 
these  frauds,  though  it  cost  him  a  sentence  of 
three  years  in  the  Federal  penitentiary  at 
Atlanta,  imposed  just  two  months  later. 

One  thing  Ruroede  did  confess,  however, 
and  in  doing  so  he  was  the  Hand  of  Fate  for 
the  timorous  Von  Wedell.  Ruroede  confessed 
that  his  assertion  to  Aucher,  that  Wedell  was 
then  in  Barcelona,  was  a  lie,  and  that  the  truth 
was  that  Wedell  had  recently  returned  from 
Cuba  and  was  aboard  the  Bergensfjord!  This 
confession  came  too  late  to  serve  that  day,  for 
the  agents  of  the  Bureau  had  by  that  time 
left  the  ship  with  their  four  prisoners  and  the 
Bergensfjord  was  out  to  sea.  But  Fate  had 
nevertheless  played  Wedell  a  harsh  trick,  for 

27 


FORMERLY   8ARD1NS 


tCLCPHONES 


I  t04 


NYACK-ON-HUDSON 


<I(/i'«.K       (^"JjJ^l, 


iL^z-m 


t  JIC  4-^    --^'^A    ^^^-    '^'^^    -^    y^-- 

^^'.  fWsf      >  '-^^    V     ?**>L        •^^     •-       '^X      Vv      .n. 


'-.v.       '-^AA. 


VON  PAPEN  AND  ALBERT  APPEAR  AS  UNNEUTRAL  PLOTTERS 
This  letter  [of  which  the  facsimiles  are  of  the  first  and  last  pages]  was 
written  by  Wedell  to  BernstorfF  to  justify  his  action  in  abandoning  the 
work  of  gathering  passports  for  fraudulent  use.     The  full  text  follows. 


28 


in  English.  It  is  an  interesting  document,  not  only  because  it  reveals  a 
lot  of  weak  human  nature  in  the  agents  of  "German  efficiency"  but 
also  because  it  definitely  revealed  Von  Papen  and  Albert  as  principals  in 
the  German  plots  as  early  as  three  months  after  the  war  started: 


29 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

HOTEL  ST.  GEORGE  Felix  Fieger,  Proprietor.  Nyack-on-Hudson,  December  26,  1914. 
His  Excellency  The  Imperial  German  Ambassador,  Count  Von  BernstorfF,  Washington, 
D.  C.  Your  hxccliency:  Allow  me  most  obediently  to  put  before  you  the  foiiowinij  facts: 
It  seems  that  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  produce  the  impression  upon  you  that  I  pre- 
maturely abandoned  my  post  in  New  York.     That  is  not  true. 

I.  My  work  was  done.  At  my  departure  I  left  the  service  well  organized  and  worked 
out  to  its  minutest  details,  in  the  hands  of  my  successor,  Mr.  Carl  Ruroede,  picked  out  by 
myself,  and,  despite  many  warnings,  still  tarried  for  several  days  in  New  York  in  order 
to  give  him  the  necessary  final  directions  and  in  order  to  hold  in  check  the  blackmailers 
thrown  on  my  hands  by  the  German  officers  until  after  the  passage  of  my  travellers  through 
Ciibraltar;  in  which  I  succeeded.  Mr.  Ruroede  will  testify  to  you  that  without  my  suit- 
able preliminary  labors,  in  which  I  left  no  conceivable  means  untried  and  in  which  I  took 
not  the  slightest  consideration  of  my  personal  weal  or  woe,  it  would  be  impossible  for  him, 
as  well  as  for  Mr.  Von  Papen,  to  forward  officers  and  "  aspirants"  in  any  number  whatever, 
to  Europe.  This  merit  I  lay  claim  to  and  the  occurrences  of  the  last  days  have  unfortu- 
nately compelled  me,  out  of  sheer  self-respect,  to  emphasi/e  this  to  your  Excellency. 

II.  The  motives  which  induced  me  to  leave  New  York  and  which,  to  my  astonishment, 
were  not  communicated  to  you,  are  the  following: 

1.  I  knew  that  the  State  Department  had,  for  three  weeks,  withheld  a  passport  appli- 
cation forged  by  me.     Why? 

2.  Ten  days  before  my  departure  1  learnt  from  a  telegram  sent  me  by  Mr.  Von  Papen, 
which  stirred  me  up  very  much,  and  further  through  the  omission  of  a  cable,  that  Dr. 
Stark  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  English.  That  gentleman's  forged  papers  were 
liable  to  come  back  any  day  and  could,  owing  chiefly  to  his  lack  of  caution,  easily  be  traced 
back  to  me. 

3.  Officers  and  aspirants  of  the  class  which  I  had  to  forward  over,'namely  the  people, 
saddled  me  with  a  lot  of  criminals  and  blackmailers,  whose  eventual  revelations  were 
liable  to  bring  about  any  day  the  explosion  of  the  bomb. 

4.  Mr.  Von  Papen  had  repeatedly  urgently  ordered  me  to  hide  myself. 

5.  Mr.  Igel  had  told  me  I  was  taking  the  matter  altogether  too  lightly  and  ought  to — 
for  God's  sake — disappear. 

6.  My  counsel,  .  .  .  had  advised  me  to  hastily  quit  New  York,  inasmuch  as  a 
local  detective  agency  was  ordered  to  go  after  the  passport  forgeries. 

7.  It  had  become  clear  to  me  that  eventual  arrest  might  yet  injure  the  worthy  under- 
takings and  that  my  disappearance  would  probably  put  a  stop  to  all  investigation  in 
this  direction. 

How  urgent  it  was  for  me  to  go  away  is  shown  by  the  fact  that,  two  days  after  my  de- 
parture, detectives,  who  had  followed  up  my  telephone  calls,  hunted  up  my  wife's  harmless 
and  unsuspecting  cousin  in  Brooklyn,  and  subjected  her  to  an  interrogatory. 

Mr.  Von  Papen  and  Mr.  Albert  have  told  my  wife  that  I  forced  myself  forward  to  do 
this  work.  That  is  not  true.  When  I,  in  Berlin,  for  the  first  time  heard  of  this  comntiis- 
sion,  I  objected  to  going  and  represented  to  the  gentleman  that  my  entire  livelihood  which 
1  had  created  for  myself  in  America  by  six  years  of  labor  was  at  stake  therein.  I  have  no 
other  means,  and  although  Mr.  Albert  told  my  wife  my  practice  was  not  worth  talking 
about,  it  sufficed,  nevertheless,  to  decently  su  pport  myself  and  wife  and  to  build  my  future 
on.  I  have  finally,  at  the  suasion  of  Count  Wedell,  undertaken  it,  read v  to  sacrifice  my 
future  and  that  of  my  wife.  I  have,  in  order  to  reach  my  goal,  despite  infinite  difficulties, 
destroyed  everything  that  I  built  up  here  for  myself  and  my  wife.  I  have  perhaps  sonie- 
times  been  awkward,  but  always  full  of  good  will  and  I  now  travej  back  to  Gerrnany  with 
the  consciousness  of  having  done  my  duty  as  well  as  I  understood  it,  and  of  having  accom- 
plished my  task.  r-      n 

With  expressions  of  the  most  exquisite  consideration,  I  am,  your  Excellency. 

Very  respectfully, 

(Signed)  Hans  Adam  von  Wedell. 

the  processes  of  extradition  were  instantly  put 
in  motion  with  what  strange  resuhs  will  in  a 
few  moments  be  made  clear. 

Now   we   may   appropriately   return   to   the 
conference  between  the  guileless  stranger  from 

30 


THE  PASSPORT  FRAUDS 


THE  CARD  OF  "  THE  GUILELESS.STRANGER  FROM  TOKYO 


Tokyo  and  the  guileful  agent  of  the  Bureau  of 
Investigation,  in  another  room.  The  guileless 
stranger  from  Tokyo  revealed  what  Ruroede 
would  not  disclose — and  revealed  it  all  uncon- 
sciously. He  talked  so  frankly  with  "young 
Ruroede's  father"  that  he  told  several  most 
important  things.  For  one,  Captain  Von  Knorr 
declared  that  Captain  Von  Papen  had  sent 
him.  Whereupon  the  pretended  Ruroede  asked 
him  whether  the  fact  that  he  was  expected  to 
assist  Von  Knorr  back  to  Europe  was  known  to 
the  German  Embassy  at  Washington.  To  this 
Von  Knorr  replied : 

"Of  course.  I  just  had  a  talk  with  Captain 
Von  Papen  right  here  in  New  York." 

"Ruroede"  still  insisted  on  having  better 
proof  that  Von  Knorr  came  directly  from  the 
Embassy,  to  which  Von  Knorr  retorted  that 

31 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

"Von  Papen  has  had  sufficient  deaHngs  with 
you  for  you  to  know  that  any  one  sent  by  him 
to  you  is  all  right." 

Unding  himself  dealing  with  a  somewhat 
reluctant  saviour,  Von  Knorr  adopted  a  con- 
ciliatory mood  and  slapped  his  broad  hand 
several  times  on  "Ruroede's''  left  breast,  say- 
ing: "That  chest  ought  to  have  something'* — 
meaning  a  decoration  from  Berlin. 

After  some  verbal  sparring,  Von  Knorr  was 
allowed  to  drift  off  the  scene  as  innocently  as  he 
had  entered  it,  and  he  has  yet  to  learn  that  his 
visit  was  in  an  office  of  American  law  and  that 
his  dealings  were  with  the  officers  of  Justice. 

But  he  left  behind  a  legacy  quite  as  valuable 
as  his  carefully  remembered  spoken  words. 
This  legacy  was  the  paper  which  he  had  brought 
from  Franz  von  Papen.  This  paper  proved  to 
be  not  a  letter,  but  rather  a  typewritten  memo- 
randum— though  all  doubt  as  to  its  origin  was 
removed  by  the  innocent  insistence  of  Von 
Knorr  that  he  had  come  with  it  from  Von 
Papen's  hand. 

Two  most  important  facts  emerged  ulti- 
mately from  a  study  of  this  innocent  bit  of 
paper.  When  Ruroede  was  arrested,  among 
other  papers  taken  from  his  desk  by  the  officers 
of  the  law  were  numerous  typewritten  sheets 
containing  lists  of  names  of  German  officers, 

32 


THE  OFFICIAL  GERMAN  PLOTTERS  AT  WASHINGTON 

Above,  Ambassador  Count  Johann  von  Bernstorff;  left,  Capt.  Franz  von  Papen, 

Military  Attache;  right,  Capt.  Karl  Boy-Ed,  Naval  Attache 


THE  PASSPORT  FRAUDS 


^  ^tJ./<4x  Cffi  JtjC^  ^  • 


iiloRP 


t€ssCkHk. 


Cafncdfffra. 


Mi 


rfy    J 


./M 


TW' 


VON  PAPEN  BECOMES  ACCESSORY  TO  A  CRIME 
Though  this  check  was  made  out  in  favor  of  G.  Amsinck  &  Co.,  the 
German-American  bankers  of  New  York,  the  counterfoil  bears  the  no- 
tation "Traveling  expense  v  W,"  that  is,  "von  Wedell."  This  check 
was  sent  him  by  Von  Papen  to  enable  him  to  escape  after  he  had  forged 
signatures  to  two  fraudulent  passports  and  realized  that  he  was  under 
surveillance — ^Von  Papen  thus  becoming  accessory  after  the  fact  to  a 
crime  against  American  laws 

their  rank,  and  other  facts  about  them.  Ru- 
roede  never  would  admit  that  these  v^ere  from 
Von  Papen,  but  that  admission  was  made  for 
him  by  a  far  more  trustworthy  testimony 
than  his  own.  This  testimony  was  an  expert 
comparison,  under  a  powerful  magnifying  glass 
of  the  typewriting  on  these  sheets  and  the 
typewriting  on  the  Von  Knorr  memorandum 
which  had  undoubtedly  come  from  Von  Papen. 

33 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 


They  were  beyond  all  questioning  identical. 
The  same  typewriter  had  written  all.  By  this 
little  microscopic  test  Von  Papen  and  the 
other  ruthless  underlings  of  Germany  were 
first  brought  tangibly  within  sight  of  their 
ultimate  expulsion  from  this  country,  for  crimes 


d^u/, 


f^/^ 


0//f  f/rJJ 


J/ 


^/^^t//fr/rrj/r,  .^X^. 


*J^?'p^,^rt4t/'tyernt4X^t/0y>ridu^ 


TWO  OF  RUROEDE'S  VISITORS'  CREDENTIALS 
These  cards  were  presented  by  two  German  officers  in  search  of  frau- 
dulent passports.     They  were  sent  by  Von  Papen  and  Mudra  (German 
Consul  at  Philadelphia),  who  both  frequently  directed  such  officers  to 
Ruroede  for  this  purpose 

34 


THE  PASSPORT  FRAUDS 

of  which  the  passport  frauds  were  the  least 
odious. 

The  other  pregnant  fact  about  the  Von 
Knorr  memorandum  was  that  the  eyes  of  Jus- 
tice rested  on  the  name  of  Werner  Horn  and 
Hngered  long  enough  to  fix  that  name  in  mem- 
ory. Here  first  swam  into  its  ken  the  man  who 
tried  to  destroy  the  international  bridge  at 
Vanceboro,  Maine,  and  whose  story  is  one  of  the 
most  romantic  and  adventurous  of  all  the  Ger- 
man plotters ! 

One  last  touch  in  this  drama:  A  few  moments 
ago  we  left  Von  Wedell — ambitious,  timorous 
Von  Wedell — on  the  high  seas  bound  for  Norway. 
But  Fate  was  after  him.  Ruroede's  moment 
of  weakness — his  moment  of  pique,  when  he 
swore  he  would  not  shoulder  all  this  bitterness 
alone — had  set  her  on  his  trail.  A  cable  mes- 
sage to  London,  a  wireless  from  the  Admiralty, 
and  then — this  entry  in  the  logbook  of  the 
Bergensfjord  for  Monday,  January  ii,  1915- 

All  male  first  and  second  class  passengers  were  gathered 
in  the  first-class  dining  saloon  and  their  nationality  in- 
quired into. 

About  noon,  the  boarding  officer  of  the  Cruiser 

(English)  went  back  and  reported  to  his  ship.  About 
0:45  P.  M.  he  came  over  with  orders  again  to  take  off 
six  German  stowaways  and  two  suspected  passengers. 
These  passengers  were  according  to  ship's  berth  list  as 
follows : 

35 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

I.  Rosato  Sprio,  Mexican,  Destination  Bergen,  Cabin 
71,  second-class.     .     .     . 

Rosato  Sprio  admitted  after  close  examination  to  be 
H.  A.  Wedell.  Claimed  to  be  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States.     .     .     . 

Dr.  Rasmus  Bjornstad  claimed  to  be  a  Norwegian.     .     . 

As  both  passengers  apparently  were  travelling  under 
false  pretense,  the  Captain  did  not  feel  justified  to  protest 
against  the  detention  of  the  two  passengers.  These 
were  accordingly  .  .  .  taken  off  and  put  on  board 
the  Auxiliary  Cruiser . 

Unhappy  Wedell!     "The   Cruiser "was 

a  ship  that  never  made  port.  Wedell's  high 
connections  in  the  German  Foreign  Office  could 
not  save  him  from  the  activities  of  the  high 
officials  of  the  German  Admiralty.     A  U-boat 

fired    a    torpedo    into    **the    Cruiser "  and 

sent  her  to  the  bottom  with  Rosato  Sprio, 
alias  H.  A.  Wedell,  aboard. 

Exeunt  Wedell  and  Ruroede. 

Enter  Werner  Horn. 


36 


CHAPTER  II 
The  Inside  Story  of  Werner  Horn 

AND 

The  First  Glimpse  of  the  Ship  Bombs 

THE  real  mystery  in  the   case   of  Werner 
Horn  is  this:    Who  was  the  man  in  Lower 

3?     (If   he    had    only    known !)     Because, 

except  for  this  one  missing  fact,  the  story  of 
Werner  Horn  is  as  clear  as  day.  It  is  the  story 
of  a  brave  man,  too  honest  to  lie  with  a  straight 
face,  who  was  used  by  the  villainous  Von 
Bernstorff  and  Von  Papen  only  after  they  had 
lied  without  a  quiver,  on  at  least  three  vital 
points,  to  him.  He  meant  to  fight  the  enemy 
of  his  country  as  a  soldier  fights,  and  they 
cynically  sent  him  on  an  errand  which  they 
meant  should  be  an  errand  of  miscellaneous 
crime,  including  murder.  He  was  to  go  to  a 
felon's  death  for  this  one  of  the  many  devilish 
plots  they  were  concocting  against  American 
lives,  while  they  lived  in  luxury  in  Washington 
and  lied  with  smiling  faces  to  the  representatives 
of  the  people  whose  hospitality  they  were 
betraying.    There  have  been  few  more  despic- 

37 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

ably  outrageous,  more  cold-blooded  crimes 
than  this — except  that  other  one  (also  of  their 
devising)  in  the  ship  bombs  case;  but  that  is 
another  story,  to  be  told  later. 

The  story  of  Werner  Horn  begins  in  Guate- 
mala. Horn  was  the  manager  of  a  coffee 
plantation  at  Moka.  He  had  seen  ten  years 
of  service  in  the  German  Army  when,  in  1909, 
he  got  a  furlough  from  the  authorities  in  Cologne 
permitting  him  to  go  to  Central  America  for 
two  years.  This  furlough  writes  him  down 
as  an  "Oberleutnant  on  inactive  service."  That 
means,  roughly,  that  he  was  a  first  lieutenant 
of  the  German  Army,  out  of  uniform  but  sub- 
ject to  call  ahead  of  all  other  classes  of  men  liable 
for  military  duty.     Then  came  the  war. 

Two  hours  after  word  of  "The  Day"  reached 
Moka,  Werner  Horn  was  packed  and  on  his 
way  to  Germany.  From  Belize  he  sailed  to 
Galveston,  where  he  spent  two  weeks  looking 
in  vain  for  passage.  Then  on  to  New  York, 
where  he  tried  for  a  month  to  sail.  Finding 
that  impossible,  he  went  to  Mexico  City  and 
there  learned  that  another  man  in  Guatemala 
had  his  job.  He  had  just  found  another  one, 
on  an  American  coffee  plantation  at  Salto  de 
Aguas,  in  Chiapas,  and  was  about  to  go  there  by 
launch  from  Frontera,  when  he  got  a  card 
telling  him  to  try  again  to  get  to  Germany. 

38 


Bezifkikommanii  ^     T 


A 


16  0EZ.1909   //^^ 

ncoin 


*r-^^'^4J»«« 


Pezirkskommando  n  V^ff  -^  i'^^"^  ^^^-^i^ 


HORN'S  APPLICATION  FOR  A  FURLOUGH 
Issued  by  the  military  authorities  of  Cologne,  on  the  Rhine  near  the 
Dutch  border,  permitting  him  to  leave  Germany  for  two  years,      i  he  tur- 
lough  was  later  extended,  as  Horn  was  gone  nearly  five  years  betore  the 
war  broke  out 

39 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

By  December  26th  he  was  back  in  New  Orleans, 
and  a  few  days  later  he  was  lodging  in  the  Arietta 
Hotel  on  Staten  Island. 

Now  began  a  series  of  conferences  with  Von 
Papen.  Horn  was  afire  with  honest  zeal  to 
serve  the  Fatherland,  and  Von  Papen  was 
unscrupulous  as  to  how  he  did  it.  When  he 
could  not  get  passage  for  him  back  to  Ger- 
many, Von  Papen  determined  to  use  this 
blond  giant  (Horn  is  six  feet  two)  for  another 
purpose.     He  then  unpacked  his  kit  of  lies. 

A  little  after  the  midnight  of  Saturday, 
December  29,  1914,  a  big  German  in  rough 
clothes  and  cloth  cap  entered  the  Grand 
Central  Station  carrying  a  cheap  brown  suit- 
case. A  porter  seized  it  from  him  with  an 
expansive  smile.  The  smile  faded  long  before 
they  reached  Car  34  of  the  one  o'clock  New 
Haven  train  to  Boston.  **Boss,  yoh  sho'  has 
got  a  load  o'  lead  in  theah,"  was  his  puff- 
ing comment  as  he  got  his  tip.  The  German 
grinned,  and  a  few  minutes  later  swung  the 
suitcase  carelessly  against  the  steam-pipes  under 
Lower  3,  and  clambered  to  the  upper.  A 
suitcase  full  of  dynamite — and  the  man  in 
Lower  3  slept  on. 

Several  people  on  the  Maine  Central  train 
that  left  North  Station,  Boston,  at  eight 
o'clock  the  next  morning,  afterward  identified 

40 


STORY  OF  WERNER  HORN 


L^4!L-       ■_>.          ^f-^'ML 

<r  V  L  r     o  *  V  — ^ 

^^;^^:^^JJ     /^  s  a  -v    -/'X  Tyj3BEr» 

MOWABO                         1  mS'm^  ^ 

•  .>IMM>S 

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♦JYiA/^^^^^'^                       '  ^^^r^'''^' 

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^^                                   ^        *! 

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MAINS  CENTRAL   RAILROAD     | 

MD 

1 

V/ERNER  HORN'S  PLAN  OF  ESCAPE 
The  pencilled  line  left  from  Vanceboro  and  down  to  Princeton  was 
Horn's  own  mark  upon  the  map  of  the  route  by  which  he  hoped  to  escape 
after  he  had  blown  up  the  international  bridge.  He  did  not  know  the 
country  and  hence  did  not  calculate  upon  the  wilderness  he  was  planning 
to  traverse,  unguided,  in  the  dead  of  a  New  England  winter.  The  pen- 
cilled ring  around  St.  John,  N.  B.,  gives  the  cue  to  his  purpose  in  blowing 
up  the  bridge — St.  John  was  a  port  from  which  the  war  supplies  from 
America  to  Great  Britain  could  be  shipped  for  use  against  the  Germans 

the  big  blond  German  who  left  It  at  Vance- 
boro, Maine,  at  six  forty-five  that  evening. 
None  of  them  recalled  his  baggage. 

But  trust  the  people  in  a  country  town  to 
catalogue  a  stranger.  Horn  went  directly  from 
the  train  about  his  errand;  which  was  reckon- 

41 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

ing  without  the  Misses  Hunter  and  the  twelve- 
year-old  Armstrong  boy.  They  saw  him  toiling 
through  the  snow,  marked  the  unusual  weight 
of  his  suitcase  from  the  way  he  carried  it, 
saw  him  hide  it  in  the  woodpile  by  the  siding 
— and  then  they  talked.  Soon  Mr.  Hunter 
hurried  to  the  Immigration  Station  and  told  an 
inspector  there  about  the  suspicious  stranger. 
The  inspector  hurried  down  the  railroad  track 
and  met  Horn  returning  from  the  international 
bridge  that  spans  the  St.  Croix  River  a  few  hun- 
dred feet  away.  He  asked  where  the  stranger 
was  going.  Horn's  reply  was  to  ask  the  way  to  a 
hotel.  When  his  name  was  next  demanded  he 
gave  it  as  Olaf  Hoorn,  and  said  he  was  a  Dane. 
The  inspector  then  asked  what  he  was  in  town 
for,  and  Horn  said  he  was  going  to  buy  a  farm. 
And,  finally,  the  inspector  asked  him  where 
he  came  from.  When  Horn  explained  in  detail 
that  he  had  come  from  New  York  via  Boston 
the  inspector,  with  a  true  legal  mind,  decided 
that  he  "had  no  jurisdiction,"  and  let  it  go 
at  that.  His  concern  in  life  was  with  "immi- 
grants" from  Canada — and  this  man  had  proved 
that  he  had  come  from  "an  interior  point." 
Hence  he  could  do  nothing  officially,  for  the 
moment. 

But  the  Misses  Hunter's  sharp  eyes  saw  the 
stranger,  after  this  interview,  recover  the  suit- 


STORY  OF  WERNER  HORN 

case  from  the  woodpile  before  going  on  to 
Tague's  Vanceboro  Exchange  Hotel  for  the 
night.  The  host  at  the  hotel  was  not  on  duty 
when  Horn  registered,  and  never  saw  his 
baggage,  but  his  mother,  who  happened  to  have 
occasion  to  enter  Horn's  room  in  his  absence  on 
the  following  Monday,  noticed  the  suitcase, 
tried  to  lift  it,  and  wondered  how  any  one  could 
carry  it.  Horn  was  a  marked  man  from  the 
moment  he  arrived  in  the  town. 

Evidently  he  sensed  the  suspicions  he  aroused, 
for  he  made  no  effort  to  proceed  about  his 
business  that  night,  or  the  next.  But  shortly 
before  eight  o'clock  on  Monday  night  Horn 
gave  up  his  room  and  said  he  was  going  to 
Boston  on  the  eight  o'clock  train.  He  took 
his  suitcase  and  disappeared.  Instead  of  going 
to  the  station,  he  hid  out  in  the  woods  until 
the  last  train  for  the  night  should  go  by.  At 
eleven  he  was  encountered  in  the  railroad  cut 
above  the  bridge  by  an  employee  of  the  Maine 
Central  Railroad,  who  got  such  unsatisfactory 
answers  to  his  questions  that  he  talked  the 
matter  over  with  a  fellow  workman  in  the  round- 
house, though  without  results.  So  Werner 
Horn  marched  out  alone  upon  the  bridge — 
alone  except  for  his  cigar  and  his  suitcase,  the 
spirit  of  the  Fatherland  upon  him  and  the  ly- 
ing words  of  Von  Papen  in  his  ears. 

43 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

He  had  need  of  the  fire  of  patriotism  to  warm 
his  blood  and  to  steel  his  courageous  spirit. 
It  was  a  black  winter  night.  The  mercury 
was  at  thirty  degrees  below  zero,  the  wind 
was  blowing  at  eighty  miles  an  hour,  the  ice 
was  thick  upon  the  cross-ties  beneath  his 
stumbling  feet.  The  fine  snow,  like  grains  of 
flying  sand,  cut  his  skin  in  the  gale. 

But  Werner  Horn  was  a  patriot  and  a  brave 
man.  Von  Papen  had  told  him  that  over  these 
rails  flowed  a  tide  of  death  to  Germans — not 
only  guns  and  shells,  but  dum-dum  bullets 
that  added  agony  to  death.  He  must  do  his 
bit  to  save  his  fellow  soldiers;  must  help  to 
stop  the  tide.  Destroy  this  bridge,  and  for  a 
time  at  least  the  cargoes  would  be  kept  from 
St.  John  and  Halifax.  It  was  a  short  bridge, 
but  a  strategic  one,  and  the  most  accessible. 
So  Horn  stumbled  on.  He  must  get  beyond 
the  middle.  Von  Papen  had  not  urged  it,  but 
Werner  Horn  had  balked  about  this  business 
from  the  first — not  through  lack  of  courage 
(he  would  go  as  a  soldier  upon  the  enemy's 
territory  and  there  fire  his  single  shot  at  any 
risk  against  their  millions),  but  he  would  not 
commit  a  crime  for  anybody,  not  even  for  the 
Kaiser;  nor  would  he  trespass  on  the  soil  of 
hospitable  America.  Hence  on  each  sleeve  he 
wore  the  colours  of  his  country:  three  bands, 

44 


STORY  OF  WERNER  HORN 

of  red  and  white  and  black.  Von  Papen  had 
beguiled  him  into  thinking  these  transformed 
him  from  a  civilian  to  a  soldier.  Twice  as  he 
struggled  through  the  darkness  he  slipped  and 
fell,  barely  saving  himself  from  death  on  the 
ice  below.  Each  time  he  clung  doggedly  to 
his  suitcase  full  of  dynamite. 

Suddenly  a  whistle  shrieked  behind  him,  and 
in  a  moment  the  glaring  eyes  of  an  express 
train's  locomotive  shone  upon  him.  Horn 
clutched  with  one  hand  at  a  steel  rod  of  the 
bridge  and  swung  out  over  black  nothingness, 
holding  the  suitcase  safe  behind  him  with  the 
other.  The  train  thundered  by,  and  left  him 
painfully  to  recover  his  uncertain  footing  on 
the  bridge.  The  second  of  Von  Papen's  lies 
had  been  disproven. 

He  had  promised  Horn  that  the  last  train 
for  the  night  would  have  been  gone  at  this 
hour,  for  Horn  had  said  he  would  do  nothing 
that  would  put  human  lives  in  peril.  But 
Horn  thought  only  that  Von  Papen  had  mis- 
understood the  schedules. 

A  few  moments  after  he  had  got  this  shock, 
another  whistle  screamed  at  him  from  the 
Canadian  shore,  and  again  he  made  his  quick, 
precarious  escape  by  hanging  out  above  the 
river  by  one  hand  and  one  foot.  He  now  decided 
that  all  schedules  had  been  put  awry,  and  that 

45 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

he  must  change  his  plans  to  be  sure  of  not 
endangering  human  beings.  To  accompHsh  this, 
he  cut  off  and  threw  away  most  of  the  fifty- 
minute  fuse  that  he  had  brought  along,  and 
left  only  enough  to  burn  three  minutes.  No 
train  would  come  sooner  than  this,  and  then  the 
explosion  would  warn  everybody  of  the  danger. 

In  doing  this,  Horn  deliberately  cut  himself 
off  from  hope  of  escaping  capture.  He  had 
planned  such  an  escape — an  ingenious  plan, 
too,  except  that  it  was  traced  on  a  railroad 
time-table  map  of  the  Maine  ^woods  in  winter 
by  a  strange  German  fresh  from  the  tropics. 
He  had  meant  to  walk  back  one  station  west- 
ward, then  cut  across  the  open  country  to  the 
end  of  a  branch  line  railroad,  and  then  ride 
back  to  Boston  on  another  line  than  that  on 
which  he  had  come  east  to  Vanceboro.  It  was 
a  clever  scheme,  except  that  it  missed  all  the 
essentials,  such  as  the  thirty  miles  of  trackless 
woods,  the  snow  feet-deep  upon  the  level,  the 
darkness  of  winter  nights,  and  the  deadly  cold. 
Still,  Horn  childishly  believed  it  feasible,  and 
he  did  a  brave  and  honourable  thing  to  throw 
it  overboard  rather  than  to  cause  the  death  of 
innocent  people. 

He  fixed  the  dynamite  against  a  girder 
of  the  bridge  above  the  Canadian  bank  of  the 
river,  adjusted  the  explosive  cap,  and  touched 

46 


STORY  OF  WERNER  HORN 

his  cigar  to  the  end  of  the  three-minute  fuse. 
Then  he  stumbled  back  across  the  gale-swept, 
icy  bridge,  made  no  effort  to  escape,  and  walked 
back  into  the  hotel  in  Vanceboro,  with  both 
hands  frozen,  as  well  as  his  ears,  his  feet,  and 
his  nose.  A  moment  after  he  entered  the 
hotel  the  dynamite  exploded  with  a  report 
that  broke  the  windows  in  half  the  houses 
in  the  town  and  twisted  rods  and  girders  on 
the  bridge  sufficiently  to  make  it  unsafe  but 
not  enough  to  ruin  it. 

Everybody  in  Vanceboro  was  aroused.  Host 
Tague,  of  the  Exchange  Hotel,  leaped  from 
his  bed  and  looked  out  of  the  window.  See- 
ing nothing,  he  struck  a  light  and  looked  at 
his  watch,  which  said  i:io,  and  then  he  hurried 
into  the  hall,  headed  for  the  cellar,  to  see  if 
his  boiler  had  exploded.  In  the  hall  he  faced 
the  bathroom.  There  stood  Werner  Horn, 
who  mildly  said  "Good  morning"  to  his 
astonished  host.  Tague  returned  the  greeting 
and  went  back  to  get  his  clothes  on.  He  had 
surmised  the  truth,  and  Horn's  connection 
with  it.  When  he  came  back  out  into  the  hall, 
Horn  was  still  in  the  bathroom,  and  said: 
'*I  freeze  my  hands."  Small  wonder,  after 
five  hours  in  that  bitter  gale.  Tague  opened 
the  bathroom  window  and  gave  him  some 
snow  to  rub  on  his  frozen  fingers,   and  then 

47 


(u:()^lMll5^llr3lQuu)!i^l|l^}(I^^^^^^^ 


^-Li^    ^^/'./ ^:^/' /.,.//  .a.  //  \. 


7../.'.,.. 


WERNER  HORN'S  COMMISSION  IN  THE  GERMAN  ARMY 
Found  in  an  ironbound  trunk  In  his  room  in  the  Arietta   Hotel  on 
Staten    Island.      His    position    was    approximately    that    of   a    first 

48 


v£  ^^y^c^/ yj^r^f  ^ 


j^*'^ 


fCfty-tyU 


.  u'y^c^v-^/^^-^/i'yrz^/,  ^ 


C^^^l 


'^ 


lieutenant,  returned  to  civil  life,  but  of  the  class  first  subject  to  duty 
in  the  event  of  war 


49 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

hurried  to  the  bridge  to  see  the  damage.  He 
found  enough  to  make  him  press  on  to  the  station 
on  the  Canadian  side,  and  then  come  back 
to  Vanceboro,  so  that  trains  would  be  held 
from  attempting  to  cross  it. 

When  he  got  back  to  his  hotel,  Horn  asked 
to  have  again  the  room  he  had  given  up  that 
evening.  Tague  had  let  it  to  another  guest, 
but  gave  Horn  a  room  on  the  third  floor.  There 
the  German  turned  in  and  went  to  sleep. 

Meanwhile,  human  nature  as  artless  as 
Werner  Horn's  was  at  work  in  Vanceboro. 
The  chief  officer  of  law  thereabouts  was  *'John 
Doe,"  a  deputy  sheriff,  chief  fish  and  game 
warden,  and  licensed  detective  for  the  state 
of  Maine.  His  later  testimony  doubtless  would 
have  had  a  sympathetic  reader  in  the  Man 
in  Lower  3  (if  only  he  had  known):  "I  was 
asleep  at  my  home,  which  is  about  three  or 
four  hundred  feet  from  the  bridge;  heard  a 
noise  about  1:10  a.m.,  which  I  thought  was 
an  earthquake,  a  collision  of  engines,  or  a 
boiler  explosion  in  the  heating  plant.  The 
noise  disturbed  me  so  that  I  could  not  get  to 
sleep.  (And  the  Man  in  Lower  3  slept  on!) 
I  got  up  in  the  morning  at  about  half-past 
five;  met  a  man  who  said  they  had  blown  up 
the  bridge." 

But  while  Mr.  Doe  was  about  his  disturbed 

SO 


STORY  OF  WERNER  HORN 

slumbers,  the  superintendent  of  the  Maine 
Central  Railroad  was  making  a  Sheridan's 
Ride  through  the  night  by  special  train  from 
Mattawamkeag,  fifty  miles  away.  ,  He,  at  least, 
was  on  the  job — he  had  brought  along  a  claim 
agent  of  the  road,  to  take  care  of  i  damage 
suits.  When  [^they  reached  the  Vanceboro 
station,  they  sent  for  Mr.  Doe,  and  when  he 
arrived  at  seven  o'clock,  Canada  also  was 
represented  by  two  constables  in  uniform.  This 
being  a  case  for  Law  and  not  for  Commerce, 
Mr.  Doe  took  charge.  He  told  the  others 
that  the  first  thing  to  do  was  to  cover  all  the 
stations  by  telegraph  and  arrest  all  suspicious 
parties.     Then  he  led  his  posse  to  the  hotel. 

There  Mr.  Tague  told  them  about  the  Ger- 
man peacefully  asleep  upstairs.  He  led  them 
to  the  upper  floor  and  pointed  out  the  room, 
but  went  no  farther,  as  he  thought  there  might 
be  shooting.  His  sister,  being  of  the  same 
mind,  sought  the  cellar.  Doe  knocked  upon 
the  door, 

"What  do  you  want?"  called  Werner  Horn. 

"Open  the  door,"  commanded  Doe. 

The  door  swung  open,  and  the  big  German 
sat  back  on  his  bed.  Then  he  saw  the  Cana- 
dian uniforms  and  jumped  for  his  coat.  Doe 
shoved  him  back,  and  one  of  the  constables 
got  the  coat,  and  the  revolver  in  it.    When 

SI 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

Doe  told  Horn  he  was  an  American  officer, 
Horn  stopped  resisting  and  said: 

''That's  all  right,  then.  I  thought  you 
were  all  Canadians.  I  wouldn't  harm  any  one 
from  here." 

Doe  handcuffed  Horn  to  his  own  arm  and 
took  him  to  the  Immigration  Station  to  make 
an  inquiry.  Here  Horn  told  a  straightforward 
story,  but  with  one  embellishment  that  caused 
more  excitement  than  all  the  rest,  and  that 
ultimately  revealed  his  own  character  in  its 
clearest  light.  This  story  was  that  he  had 
not  brought  the  dynamite  in  his  suitcase, 
but  that,  by  prearrangement,  he  had  carried 
the  empty  suitcase  to  the  bridge  and  there 
met  an  Irishman  from  Canada,  to  whom  he 
gave  the  password  "Tommy,"  and  that  this 
Irishman  had  given  him  the  explosive  and 
then  disappeared. 

"Tommy"  immediately  became  a  sensation 
who  overshadowed  Horn  himself.  Canadian 
officers  scoured  the  Canadian  shore  for  days, 
looking  for  this  dangerous  renegade,  and  Amer- 
icans were  as  zealous  on  our  side  of  the  river. 

But  Horn  himself  was  in  a  dangerous  posi- 
tion. Lynching  bees  were  discussed  on  both 
sides  of  the  river,  and  probably  only  prompt 
action  by  the  local  authorities  prevented  one. 
Both  to  hold  Horn  for  more  serious  prosecution 

S2 


STORY  OF  WERNER  HORN 

and  to  get  him  out  of  peril,  he  was  charged 
in  the  local  police  court  with  malicious  mischief 
in  breaking  the  window  glass  in  one  of  the 
houses  in  Vanceboro;  he  pleaded  guilty  and 
was  at  once  removed  to  Machias,  the  county 
seat,  to  serve  thirty  days  in  jail.  Five  days 
after  the  explosion,  the  Department  of  Justice 
had  Horn's  signed  confession,  taken  in  person 
by  the  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Investigation. 

It  was  in  the  giving  of  this  confession  that 
Werner  Horn  revealed  himself  most  fully  as 
a  patriot  and  a  gentleman,  and,  all  uncon- 
sciously, revealed  that  the  cynical  Von  Papen 
was  a  liar,  a  cold-blooded  criminal,  and,  for 
the  second  time  in  the  first  months  of  the  war, 
the  secret  hand  behind  the  violations  of 
American  neutrality  instigated  through  him 
and  Bernstorff  at  the  behest  of  the  Imperial 
German  Government. 

When  the  government  agent  saw  Horn  in 
jail  at  Machias,  and  warned  him  that  what  he 
said  would  be  used  against  him  in  proceed- 
ings for  his  extradition  into  Canada,  or 
prosecution  here,  Horn  told  the  same  straight- 
forward story,  with  the  same  embellishment 
about  "Tommy."  "I  met  a  white  man," 
so  Horn  said,  "whom  I  had  never  seen  before, 
but  who  was  about  35  or  40  years  of  age 
clean    shaven — 'Tommy' — I    was  told   to  say 

53 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

'Tommy'  when  I  met  him — I  cannot  say 
anything  that  would  involve  the  consulate 
or  the  embassy — Germany  is  at  war — I  re- 
ceived, however,  an  order  which  was  from  one 
who  had  a  right  to  give  it,  a  verbal  order  only — 
received  it  two  or  three  days  before  leaving 
New  York  for  Vanceboro." 

Later  he  said:  *'I  cannot  speak  of  the  rank 
of  the  man  who  gave  the  orders — I  cannot 
even  say  that  he  was  an  officer.  No  one  was 
present  when  the  orders  were  given  me  in 
New  York  City.  I  cannot  tell  more  because 
it  was  a  matter  for  the  Fatherland.  I  would 
rather  go  to  Canada  [where  he  knew  they 
wanted  to  lynch  him]  than  to  tell  more  about 
my  orders — this  would  be  impossible — at  least 
until  after  the  war  is  over." 

Horn  admitted  he  had  met  Von  Papen  sev- 
eral times  at  the  German  Club  in  New  York 
City,  but  no  art  could  compel  him  to  admit 
that  he  had  got  his  orders  from  him.  But, 
as  the  agent  noticed,  his  manner  gave  his 
words  the  lie;  and  whenever  he  tried  to  tell 
anything  that  was  inaccurate  he  did  so  with 
great  difficulty  and  embarrassment.  But  find- 
ing him  determined,  at  whatever  risk,  to 
withhold  this  information,  and  determined, 
too,  to  stick  to  the  absurd  story  about  ''Tom- 
my,"  the   agent   wrote   out   by   typewriter   a 

54 


STORY  OF  WERNER  HORN 

statement  of  the  facts  as  he  had  given  them 
for  Horn  to  sign. 

Horn  read  the  statement  over  and  said  that 
he  would  sign  it.  Then  the  agent  took  out  his 
pen,  added  a  few  items  of  new  information, 
and  wrote  these  words : 

"I  certify  on  my  honour  as  a  German  officer 
that  the  foregoing  statements  are  true,"  and 
handed  Horn  the  pen  to  sign  it.  Horn  read 
the  last  sentence  and  seemed  nonplussed. 
He  turned  back  through  the  pages  of  the 
statement,  blushed,  scratched  his  head,  and 
finally  grinned  up  at  the  agent  with  the  one 
word: 

^'Tommy." 

The  agent  grinned  in  turn: 

''You  mean  it's  all  right  except  for  Tommy?" 

"Yes." 

Horn  would  not  sign  a  lie  and  pledge  his 
honour  it  was  truth.  A  close  scrutiny  of  the  cut 
on  page  57  will  show  where  the  period  after 
the  word  "true"  has  been  erased,  so  that  the 
sentence  could  go  on  to  say,  before  he  signed  it, 
"except  as  to  'Tommy' — that  I  did  not  buy 
the  nitro-glycerine  but  received  it  in  New 
York  and  took  it  with  me  in  the  suitcase.  I 
cannot  say  from  whom  I  received  it.  Wer- 
ner Horn." 

If  Werner  Horn  had  been  less  honest,  less 

55 


0-M/--  S'J/  /f/s^  Itochlaa ,  ^Ine, 

Feb..  7,  1918, 

I,  Wornor  Horn,  after  having  boen  advlsod  thnt  my  extradition 
to  Canada  has  been  aalced  by  the  Oovemrmnt  of  Great  Britain  and 
that  anything  I  may  aay  will  or  may  beuaed  agalnat  mo  In  an  extra- 
dition proceeding  by  the  Dnl>ed  States  or  In  a  proaecutlon  bv  the 
United  States  If  It  shall  be  found  that  I  have  violated  any  of  the 
laws  oX  that  country  ajid  that  I  may  decline  to  l«lk  at  all  or  to 
answer  any  particular  questions  do  voluntatfly,  fillilng  and  without 
any  promlsea  other  than  that  my  case  will  be  deal)  with  by  the 
United  stated  faJlrly,  Impartially  and  In  accoraance  with  the  law, 
make  this  statement. 

I  am  thirty-seven  years  of  age,  a  citizen  of  Germany  and"  at 
the  outbreak  of  the  war  was  the  manager  of  a  coffee  plantation  In 
Guatamalq,^  that  1  em  an  Over-lieutenant  l.n  the  German  peoerv^  army,«,w. 
^^[Jiavlng  had  ten  years  active  service  In  the  German  army,  that  two 
hours  after  receiving  the  call  to  return  for  army  service  I  was  on 
my  way.   I  werlSLiVom  Cuatama'la  to  Galveston,  Texas,  In  August,  1914^ 
remained  there  fourteeen  days,  proceeded  to  New  York  City,  waited 
there  four  weeks  trying  to  get  a  steamer  to  return  to  Germany, 
found  that  this  was  impossible,  started  to  Vexlcao,  remaining  en 
route  15  days  In  Gan  Antonio,  Texas,  that  In  VoxlceoClty  I  received 
a  card  from  .the  coffeepplantotlon  in  Guatemala  that  another  man  had  my 
position,  thst  I.  secured  a  position  on  an  American  coffee  plantation, 
that  about  four  hours  befoi*e  ^olng  >ft.Fronterar[  recelved<?a  card    •^y- 
that  all  German  officers  should  proceed  to  Germany,  that  I  returned 
on  the  same  launch  pn  which  t  had  Intended  to  go  -t«  Frontera,  -sa« 
Vh»  Ocnnan  <ifin»irt~ln  Vora-Cj?<M,  sailed  on  a  Norwegian  steamer  trim 
Vera  Ci^is.  to  Hew  Orleans,  was  on  the  sea  on  Christmas  day,  arrived 
la  New  Orleiins  December  2C,  1914,  proceeded  at  once  to  New  York  by 
train,  reported  to  the  German  Consul  there  elther^^a.  2ft  or  2Q, 
asked  Captain  on  ?apen  If  it.  was  possible  to  go  tb  Gerrr.any,  he  ^!jg,d 
that  It  »ac  ♦r.post.lble,  that  i  stayed  at  the  Ariette.  Itotel  on 
Arietta  Street,  .-»-taten  Islar.d,  Liu-ee  olr  four  -.veeka  and  then  v.ent 
"to  vahceboro,  .Valne, 

WERNER  HORN'S  CONFESSION 
In  which   he   unintentionally   revealed   the   guilty   purposes  of  Von 
Papen   to  violate   American    neutrality  and    commit   a   crime   against 
human   life,  and  vs'hich  Horn   refused   to   sign    upon  his    "honour  as 


S6 


^tet.,^  ^9^0.0.^  cx^^^  j^^-^-^^-^^AAa.^ 


•O:: 


a  German  officer"  until  it  was  altered  to  remove  the  fantastic  tale 
about  a  confederate  in  Canada.  By  looking  closely  the  erasure  of 
the  period  after  the  word  "true"  can  be  seen,  made  to  permit  this 
correction  to  be  added 

57 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

luimanc,  the  black  wickedness  of  his  Imperial 
masters  would  have  been  less  clearly  visible. 
He  was  the  one  who  was  punctilious  to  respect 
American  neutrality — while  they  flouted  it. 
He  was  the  one  who  risked  his  own  life  rather 
than  imperil  others — while  they  sat  snug  in 
Washington  devising  means  to  place  on  the 
rudders  of  American  ships  the  bombs  that 
would  add  another  horrid  chapter  to  their 
crimes.  A  mere  criminal  at  Vanceboro  might 
have  been  accused  of  exceeding  their  criminal 
instructions — Werner  Horn  refused  to  carry 
out  the  instructions  they  had  given. 

One  cannot  forbear  to  publish  here  a  humor 
ous  incident  in  this  case,  in  no  way  related  to 
its  immediate  currents,  but  so  characteristic 
of  the  American  attitude  in  general  at  that 
time.  Here  was  a  drama  of  international 
politics,  fertilizing  the  germs  of  war — the  seeds 
of  our  own  entrance  into  the  conflict,  with  its 
present  expenditures  of  billions  in  treasure  and 
its  prospective  expenditure  of  human  blood 
and  tears.  Into  this  epic  picture  walks  a 
Yankee  trader  with  a  bottle  of  liniment  for 
frost  bite  in  his  hand,  and  asks  for  a  ** testi- 
monial." It  is  significant,  because  it  was  a 
faithful  miniature  of  America  at  large  in 
February,  191 5 — asleep  to  the  perils  of  its 
"isolation,"    but    wide     awake    to    the    main 

S8 


STORY  OF  WERNER  HORN 

chance  In  war-begotten  trade.  Well  could  Von 
Papen  and  Von  Bernstorff,  well  could  the 
Kaiser  in  Berlin,  afford  to  smile  a  little  longer, 
and  marvel  again  at  a  people  still  ''so  stupid." 
But  the  American  Government  was  on  still 
other  German  plotters'  trails.  They  were  not 
asleep,  nor  stupid.  Even  while  they  went 
through  the  long,  legal  processes  in  which 
German  intrigue  tried  in  vain  to  save  Werner 
Horn  from  delivery  to  Canadian  justice  (and 
Horn  was  supplied  with  good  counsel  and 
every  facility  for  making  his  defence),  among 
the  Yankee  traders  there  was  alert  activity 
as  well  as  dormant  patriotism.  The  way  in 
which  the  Department  of  Justice,  through  these 
merchants,  lawyers,  doctors,  men  of  the  ''main 
chance,'^  soon  had  a  network  of  special  agents 
in  every  city,  town,  and  hamlet  in  the  country, 
is  one  of  the  cleverest  pieces  of  American 
Government  detective  work  born  of  the  war. 


59 


CHAPTER  III 
Robert  Fay  and  the  Ship  Bombs 

ROBERT  FAY  landed  in  New  York  on 
April  23,  1915.  He  landed  in  jail  just 
six  months  and  one  day  later — on  October  24th. 
In  those  six  months  he  slowly  perfected  one  of 
the  most  infernal  devices  that  ever  emerged 
from  the  mind  of  man.  He  painfully  had  it 
manufactured  piece  by  piece.  With  true  Ger- 
man thoroughness  he  covered  his  trail  at  every 
point — excepting  one.  And  five  days  after  he 
had  aroused  suspicion  at  that  point,  he  and 
his  entire  group  of  fellow  conspirators  were  in 
jail.  The  agents  of  American  justice  who  put 
him  there  had  unravelled  his  whole  ingenious 
scheme  and  had  evidence  enough  to  have  sent 
him  to  the  penitentiary  for  life  if  laws  since 
passed  had  then  been  in  effect. 

Only  the  mind  that  conceived  the  sinking  of 
the  Lusita7iia  could  have  improved  upon  the 
devilish  device  which  Robert  Fay  invented 
and  had  ready  for  use  when  he  was  arrested. 
It  was  a  box  containing  forty  pounds  of  tri- 
nitrotoluol, to  be  fastened  to  the  rudder  post  of 

60 


THE  SHIP  BOMBS 

a  vessel,  and  so  geared  to  the  rudder  itself 
that  its  oscillations  would  slowly  release  the 
catch  of  a  spring,  which  would  then  drive 
home  the  firing  pin  and  cause  an  explosion 
that  would  instantly  tear  off  the  whole  stern 
of  the  ship,  sinking  it  in  mid-ocean  in  a  few 
minutes.  Experts  in  mechanics  and  experts 
in  explosives  and  experts  in  shipbuilding  all 
tested  the  machine,  and  all  agreed  that  it  was 
perfect  for  the  work  which  Fay  had  planned 
that  it  should  do. 

Fay  had  three  of  these  machines  completed, 
he  had  others  in  course  of  construction,  he 
had  bought  and  tested  the  explosive  to  go 
into  them,  he  had  cruised  New  York  harbour  in 
a  motor  boat  and  proved  by  experience  that 
he  could  attach  them  undetected  where  he 
wished,  and  he  had  the  names  and  sailing  dates 
of  the  vessels  that  he  meant  to  sink  without 
a  trace.  Only  one  little  link  that  broke — and 
the  quick  and  thorough  work  of  American 
justice — robbed  him  of  another  Iron  Cross 
besides  the  one  he  wore.  That  link — but  that 
comes  later  in  the  story. 

Fay  and  his  device  came  straight  from  the 
heart  of  the  German  Army,  with  the  approval 
and  the  money  of  his  government  behind  him. 
He,  like  Werner  Horn,  came  originally  from 
Cologne;   but   they  were   very   different   men. 

6i 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

Where  Horn  was  almost  childishly  simple, 
Fay's  mind  was  subtle  and  quick  to  an  extraor- 
dinary degree.  Where  Horn  had  been  hu- 
mane to  the  point  of  risking  his  life  to  save 
others,  Fay  had  spent  months  in  a  cold-blooded 
solution  of  a  complex  problem  in  destruction 
that  he  knew  certainly  involved  a  horrible 
death  for  dozens,  and  more  likely  hundreds, 
of  helpless  human  beings.  Horn  refused  to 
swear  to  a  lie  even  where  the  lie  was  a  matter  of 
no  great  moment.  Fay  told  at  his  trial  a  story 
so  ingenious  that  it  would  have  done  credit  to 
a  novelist  and  would  have  been  wholly  con- 
vincing if  other  evidence  had  not  disproved 
the  substance  of  it.  The  truth  of  the  case 
runs  like  this: 

Fay  was  in  Germany  when  the  war  broke 
out  and  was  sent  to  the  Vosges  Mountains  in 
the  early  days  of  the  conflict.  Soon  men  were 
needed  in  the  Champagne  sector,  and  Fay  was 
transferred  to  that  front.  Here  he  saw  some 
of  the  bitterest  fighting  of  the  war,  and  here 
he  led  a  detachment  of  Germans  in  a  surprise 
attack  on  a  trench  full  of  Frenchmen  in  su- 
perior force.  His  success  in  this  dangerous 
business  won  him  an  Iron  Cross  of  the  second 
class.  During  these  days  the  superiority  of  the 
Allied  artillery  over  the  German  caused  the 
Germans  great  distress,  and  they  became  very 

62 


THE  SHIP  BOMBS 

bitter  when  they  realized,  from  a  study  of  the 
shells  that  exploded  around  them,  how  much 
of  this  superiority  was  due  to  the  material 
that  came  from  the  United  States  for  use  by 
the  French  and  British  guns.  Fay's  ingenious 
mind  formed  a  scheme  to  stop  this  supply,  and 
he  put  his  plan  before  his  superior  officers.  The 
result  was  that,  in  a  few  weeks,  he  left  the  army 
and  left  Germany,  armed  with  passports  and 
$3,500  in  American  money,  bound  for  the 
United  States  on  the  steamer  Rotterdam.  He 
reached  New  York  on  April  23,  19 15. 

One  of  Fay's  qualifications  for  the  task  he 
had  set  for  himself  was  his  familiarity  with  the 
English  language  and  with  the  United  States. 
He  had  come  to  America  in  1902,  spending  a 
few  months  on  a  farm  in  Manitoba  and  then 
going  on  to  Chicago,  where  he  had  worked 
for  several  years  for  the  J.  I.  Case  Machinery 
Company,  makers  of  agricultural  implements. 
During  these  years.  Fay  v/as  taking  an  extended 
correspondence  school  course  in  electrical  and 
steam  engineering,  so  that  altogether  he  had 
good  technical  background  for  the  events  of 
1915.     In  1906,  he  went  back  to  Germany. 

What  he  may  have  lacked  in  technical 
equipment.  Fay  made  up  by  the  first  connec- 
tion he  made  when  he  reached  New  York  in 
191 5.     The  first  man  he  looked  up  was  Walter 

63 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

Scholz,  his  brother-in-law,  who  had  been  in 
this  country  for  four  years  and  who  was  a  civil 
engineer  who  had  worked  here  chiefly  as  a 
draftsman — part  of  the  time  for  the  Lacka- 
wanna Railroad — and  who  had  studied  me- 
chanical engineering  on  the  side.  When  Fay 
arrived,  Scholz  had  been  out  of  a  job  in  his  own 
profession  and  was  working  on  a  rich  man's 
estate  in  Connecticut.  Fay,  armed  with 
plenty  of  money  and  his  big  idea,  got  Scholz 
to  go  into  the  scheme  with  him,  and  the  two 
were  soon  living  together  in  a  boarding  house 
at  28  Fourth  Street,  Weehawken,  across  the 
river  from  uptown  New  York. 

To  conceal  the  true  nature  of  their  opera- 
tions they  hired  a  small  building  on  Main 
Street  and  put  a  sign  over  the  door  announcing 
themselves  in  business  as  "The  Riverside 
Garage."  They  added  verisimilitude  to  this 
scheme  by  buying  a  second-hand  car  in  bad 
condition  and  dismantling  it,  scattering  the 
parts  around  the  room  so  that  it  would  look  as 
if  they  were  engaged  in  making  repairs.  Every 
once  in  a  while  they  would  shift  these  parts 
about  so  as  to  alter  the  appearance  of  the 
place.  However,  they  did  not  accept  any 
business — whenever  a  man  took  the  sign  at  its 
face  value  and  came  in  asking  to  have  work 
done,  Fay  or  Scholz  would  take  him  to  a  near-by 

64 


THE  SHIP  BOMBS 

saloon  and  buy  him  a  few  drinks  and  pass  him 
along,  referring  him  to  some  other  garage. 

The  most  of  their  time  they  spent  about  the 
real  business  in  hand.  They  took  care  to 
have  the  windows  of  their  room  in  the  board- 
ing house  heavily  curtained  to  keep  out  prying 
eyes,  and  here,  under  a  student  lamp,  they 
spent  hours  over  mechanical  drawings  which 
were  afterward  produced  in  evidence  at  the 
trial  of  their  case.  The  mechanism  that  Fay 
had  conceived  was  carefully  perfected  on  paper, 
and  then  they  confronted  the  task  of  getting 
the  machinery  assembled.  Some  of  the  parts 
were  standard — that  is,  they  could  be  bought 
at  any  big  hardware  store.  Others,  however, 
were  peculiar  to  this  device  and  had  to  be  made 
to  order  from  the  drawings.  They  had  the 
tanks  made  by  a  sheet-metal  worker  named 
Ignatz  Schiering,  at  344  West  42nd  Street, 
New  York.  Scholz  went  to  him  with  a  draw- 
ing, telling  him  that  it  was  for  a  gasolene  tank 
for  a  motor  boat.  Scholz  made  several  trips 
to  the  shop  to  supervise  some  of  the  details  of 
the  construction  and  once  to  order  more  tanks 
of  a  new  size  and  shape. 

At  the  same  time  Scholz  went  to  Bernard 
McMillan,  doing  business  under  the  name  of 
McMillan  &  Werner,  81 'Centre  Street,  New 
York,   to   have   him    make    special    kinds    of 

65 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

wheels  and  gears  for  the  internal  mechanism 
of  the  bomb,  from  sketches  which  Scholz 
supplied.  At  odd  times  between  June  loth 
and  October  20th  McMillan  was  working  on 
these  things  and  delivered  the  last  of  them  to 
Scholz  just  a  few  days  before  he  was  arrested. 
In  the  meanwhile,  Fay  was  taking  care  of 
the  other  necessary  elements  of  his  scheme. 
Besides  the  mechanism  of  the  bomb,  he  had 
to  become  familiar  with  the  shipping  in  the 
port  of  New  York,  and  he  had  to  get  the  ex- 
plosive with  which  to  charge  the  bomb.  For 
the  former  purpose  he  and  Scholz  bought  a 
motor  boat — a  28-footer — and  in  this  they 
cruised  about  New  York  harbour  at  odd  times, 
studying  the  docks  at  w^iich  ships  were  being 
loaded  with  suppHes  for  the  Allies  and  cal- 
culating the  best  means  and  time  for  placing 
the  bombs  on  the  rudder  posts  of  these  ships. 
Fay  finally  determined  by  experience  that 
between  two  and  three  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing was  the  best  time.  The  watchmen  on 
board  the  ships  were  at  that  hour  most  likely  to 
be  asleep  or  the  night  dark  enough  so  that 
he  could  work  in  safety.  He  made  some  ac- 
tual experiments  in  fastening  the  empty  tanks 
to  the  rudder  posts,  and  found  that  it  was 
perfectly  easy  to  do  so.  His  scheme  was  to 
fasten  them   just   above  the  water  line   on   a 

66 


THE  SHIP  BOMBS 

ship  while  it  was  light,  so  that  when  it  was 
loaded  they  were  submerged  and  all  possibiHty 
of  detection  was  removed. 

The  getting  of  explosives  was,  however,  the 
most  difficult  part  of  Fay's  undertaking.  This 
was  true  not  only  because  he  was  here  most 
likely  to  arouse  suspicion,  but  also  because 
of  his  relative  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  thing 
he  was  dealing  with.  He  did  know  enough, 
however,  to  begin  his  search  for  explosives  in 
the  least  suspicious  field,  and  it  was  only  as 
he  became  ambitious  to  produce  a  more  power- 
ful effect  that  he  came  to  grief. 

The  material  he  decided  to  use  at  first  was 
chlorate  of  potash.  This  substance  in  itself 
is  so  harmless  that  it  is  an  ingredient  of  tooth 
powders  and  is  used  commonly  in  other  ways. 
When,  however,  it  is  mixed  with  any  substance 
high  in  carbons,  such  as  sugar,  sulphur,  char- 
coal, or  kerosene,  it  becomes  an  explosive  of  con- 
siderable power.  Fay  set  about  to  get  some  of 
the  chlorate. 

But  it  is  now  time  to  get  acquainted  with 
Fay's  fellow  conspirators,  and  to  follow  them 
through  the  drama  of  human  relationships 
that  led  to  Fay's  undoing.  All  these  men  v/ere 
Germans — some  of  them  German-Americans — 
and  each  in  his  own  way  was  doing  the  work 
of  the  Kaiser  in  this  country.     Herbert  Kienzle 

^7 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

was  a  dealer  in  clocks  with  a  store  on  Park 
Place,  in  New  York.  He  had  learned  the 
business  in  his  father's  clock  factory  deep  in 
the  Black  Forest  in  Germany  and  had  come  to 
this  country  years  ago  to  go  into  the  same 
business,  getting  his  start  by  acting  as  agent 
for  his  father's  factory  over  here.  After  the 
war  broke  out  he  had  become  obsessed  with 
the  wild  tales  which  German  propaganda  had 
spread  in  this  country  about  dum-dum  bullets 
being  shipped  back  for  use  against  the  soldiers 
of  the  Fatherland.  He  had  brooded  on  the 
subject,  had  written  very  feelingly  about  it 
to  the  folks  at  home,  and  had  prepared  for 
distribution  in  the  United  States  a  pamphlet 
denouncing  this  traffic.  Fay  had  heard  of  Kienzle 
before  leaving  Germany,  and  soon  after  he 
reached  New  York  he  got  in  touch  with  him  as 
a  man  with  a  fellow  feeling  for  the  kind  of  work 
he  was  undertaking  to  do. 

One  of  the  first  things  in  Fay's  carefully 
worked-out  plan  was  to  locate  a  place  to  which 
he  could  quietly  retire  when  his  work  of  de- 
struction should  be  done — a  place  where  ht: 
felt  he  could  be  safe  from  suspicion.  After  a 
talk  with  Kienzle  he  decided  that  Lush's 
Sanatorium,  at  Butler,  N.  J.,  would  serve  the 
purpose.  This  sanatorium  was  run  by  Ger- 
mans   and    Kienzle    was    well    known    there. 

68 


THE  SHIP  BOMBS 

Acting  on  a  prearranged  plan  with  Kienzle, 
Fay  went  to  Butler  and  was  met  at  the  station 
by  a  man  named  Bronkhorst,  who  was  in 
charge  of  the  grounds  at  the  sanatorium. 
They  identified  each  other  by  prearranged 
signals  and  Fay  made  various  arrangements, 
some  of  which  are  of  importance  later  in  the 
story. 

Another  friend  of  Kienzle's  was  Max  Brie- 
tung,  a  young  German  employed  by  his  uncle, 
E.  N.  Brietung,  who  was  in  the  shipping  busi- 
ness in  New  York.  Young  Brietung  was  con- 
sequently in  a  position  to  know  at  first  hand 
about  the  movements  of  ships  out  of  New 
York  harbour.  Brietung  supplied  Fay  with  the 
information  he  needed  regarding  which  ships 
Fay  should  elect  to  destroy.  But  first  Brietung 
made  himself  useful  in  another  way. 

Fay  asked  Kienzle  how  he  could  get  some 
chlorate  of  potash,  and  Kienzle  asked  his  young 
friend  Brietung  if  he  could  help  him  out. 
Brietung  said  he  could,  and  went  at  once  to 
another  German  who  was  operating  in  New 
York  ostensibly  as  a  broker  in  copper  under 
the  name  of  Carl  L.  Oppegaard. 

It  is  just  as  well  to  get  better  acquainted 
with  Oppegaard  because  he  was  a  vital  link 
in  Fay's  undoing.  His  real  name  was  Paul 
Siebs  and  for  the  purpose  of  this  story  he  might 

69 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

as  well  be  known  by  that  name.  Siebs  had 
also  been  in  this  country  in  earlier  days  and 
during  his  residence  in  Chicago,  from  19 lo 
to  191 3,  he  had  gotten  acquainted  with  young 
Brietung.  He,  too,  had  gone  back  to  Germany 
before  the  war,  but  soon  after  it  began  he  had 
come  back  to  the  United  States  under  his  false 
name,  ostensibly  as  an  agent  of  an  electrical 
concern  in  Gothenburg,  Sweden,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  buying  copper.  He  frankly  admitted 
later  that  this  copper  was  intended  for  re- 
export to  Germany  to  be  used  in  the  manu- 
facture of  munitions  of  war.  He  did  not  have 
much  success  in  his  enterprise  and  he  was 
finally  forced  to  make  a  living  from  hand  to 
mouth  by  small  business  transactions  of  almost 
any  kind.  He  could  not  afford  a  separate 
office,  so  he  rented  desk  room  in  the  office  of 
the  Whitehall  Trading  Company,  a  small  sub- 
sidiary of  the  Raymond-Hadley  Corporation. 
His  desk  was  in  the  same  room  with  the  mana- 
ger of  the  company,  Carl  L.  Wettig. 

When  Brietung  asked  Siebs  to  buy  him 
some  chlorate  of  potash  Siebs  was  delighted  at 
the  opportunity  to  make  some  money  and 
immediately  undertook  the  commission.  He 
had  been  instructed  to  get  a  small  amount, 
perhaps  200  pounds.  He  needed  money  so 
badly,  however,  that  he  was  very  glad  to  find 

70 


THE  SHIP  BOMBS 

that  the  smallest  kegs  of  the  chlorate  of  potash 
v/ere  112  pounds  each,  and  he  ordered  three 
kegs.  He  paid  for  them  with  money  supplied 
by  Brietung  and  took  a  delivery  slip.  Ulti- 
mately this  delivery  slip  was  presented  by  Scholz 
who  appeared  one  day  with  a  truck  and  driver 
and  took  the  chemical  away. 

Fay  and  Scholz  made  some  experiments 
with  the  chlorate  of  potash  and  Fay  decided 
it  was  not  strong  enough  to  serve  his  purpose. 
He  then  determined  to  try  dynamite.  Again 
he  wished  to  avoid  suspicion  and  this  time, 
after  consultation  with  Kienzle,  he  recalled 
Bronkhorst  down  at  the  Lush  Sanatorium  in 
New  Jersey.  Bronkhorst,  in  his  work  as 
superintendent  of  the  grounds  at  the  sana- 
torium, was  occasionally  engaged  in  laying 
water  mains  in  the  rocky  soil  there,  and  for 
this  purpose  kept  dynamite  on  hand.  Fay 
got  a  quantity  of  dynamite  from  him.  Later, 
however,  he  decided  that  he  wanted  a  still  more 
powerful  explosive. 

Again  he  applied  to  Kienzle,  and  this  time 
Kienzle  got  in  touch  with  Siebs  direct.  By 
prearrangement,  Kienzle  and  Siebs  met  Fay 
underneath  the  Manhattan  end  of  the  Brook- 
lyn Bridge,  and  there  Siebs  was  introduced  to 
Fay.  They  walked  around  City  Hall  Park 
together  discussing  the  subject;  and  Fay,  not 

71 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

knowing  the  name  of  what  he  was  after,  tried 
to  make  Siebs  understand  what  explosive  he 
wanted  by  describing  its  properties.  Siebs 
finally  reaHzed  that  what  Fay  had  in  mind 
was  trinitrotoluol,  one  of  the  three  highest 
explosives  known.  Siebs  finally  undertook  to 
get  some  of  it  for  him,  but  pointed  out  to 
him  the  obvious  diflSculties  of  buying  it  in  as 
small  quantities  as  he  wanted.  It  was  easy 
enough  to  buy  chlorate  of  potash  because  that 
was  in  common  commercial  use  for  many 
purposes.  It  was  also  easy  to  buy  dynamite 
because  that  also  is  used  in  all  quantities 
and  for  many  purposes.  But  trinitrotoluol 
is  too  powerful  for  any  but  military  use,  and 
it  is  consequently  handled  only  in  large  lots 
and  practically  invariably  is  made  to  the  order 
of  some  government.  However,  Siebs  had  an 
idea  and  proceeded  to  act  on  it. 

He  went  back  to  the  Whitehall  Trading 
Company,  where  he  had  desk  room,  and  saw 
his  fellow  occupant,  Carl  Wettig.  Wettig 
had  been  engaged  in  a  small  way  in  a  brokerage 
business  in  war  supplies,  and  had  even  taken  a 
few  small  turns  in  the  handling  of  explosives. 
Siebs  had  overheard  him  discussing  with  a 
customer  the  market  price  of  trinitrotoluol 
some  weeks  before,  and  on  this  account  thought 
possibly  Wettig  might   help   him  out.     When 

72 


THE  SHIP  BOMBS 

he  put  the  proposition  up  to  Wettig  the  latter 
agreed  to  do  what  he  could  to  fill  the  order. 

In  the  meanwhile  Fay  had  sent  another 
friend  of  Brietung's  to  Bridgeport  to  see  if  he 
could  get  trinitrotoluol  in  that  great  city  of 
munitions.  There  he  called  upon  another 
German  who  was  running  an  employment 
agency — finding  jobs  for  Austro-Hungarians  who 
were  working  in  the  munitions  plants,  so  that 
he  could  take  them  out  of  the  plants  and 
divert  their  labour  from  the  making  of  war 
supplies  for  use  against  the  Teutons.  The  only 
result  of  this  visit  was  that  Brietung's  friend 
brought  back  some  loaded  rifle  cartridges  which 
ultimately  were  used  in  the  bombs  as  caps  to 
fire  the  charge.  But  otherwise  his  trip  was  of 
no  use  to  Fay. 

Carl  Wettig  was  the  weak  link  in  Fay's'' 
chain  of  fortune.  He  did  indeed  secure  the 
high  explosive  that  Fay  wanted,  and  was  in 
other  ways  obliging.  But  he  got  the  explosive 
from  a  source  that  would  have  given  Fay  heart 
failure  if  he  had  known  of  it,  and  he  was  oblig- 
ing for  reasons  that  Fay  lived  to  regret.  Siebs 
made  his  inquiry  of  Wettig  on  the  19th  of 
October.  The  small  quantity  of  explosives 
that  he  asked  for  aroused  Wettig's  suspicions 
and  as  soon  as  he  promised  to  get  it  he  went 
to  the  French  Chamber  of  Commerce,  near  by, 

73 


FIGHTING  GERMANY^S  SPIES 

told  them  what  he  suspected,  and  asked  to  be 
put  in  touch  with  responsible  police  author- 
ities under  whose  direction  he  wished  to  act 
in  supplying  the  trinitrotoluol. 

From  that  moment  Fay,  Siebs,  and  Kienzle 
were  "waked  up  in  the  morning  and  put  to 
bed  at  night''  by  detectives  from  the  police  de- 
partment of  New  York  City  and  operatives 
of  the  Secret  Service  of  the  United  States. 
By  arrangement  with  them  Wettig  obtained  a 
keg  containing  25  pounds  of  trinitrotoluol,  and 
in  the  absence  of  Fay  and  Scholz  from  their 
boarding  house  in  Weehawken,  he  delivered 
it  personally  to  their  room  and  left  it  on  their 
dresser.  He  told  Siebs  he  had  delivered  it  and 
Siebs  promptly  set  about  collecting  his  com- 
mission from  Fay. 

Siebs  had  some  difficulty  in  doing  this,  be- 
cause Fay  and  Scholz,  being  unfamiliar  with 
the  use  of  the  explosive,  were  unable  to  explode 
a  sample  of  it  and  decided  that  it  was  no  good. 
They  had  come  home  in  the  evening  and  found 
the  keg  on  their  dresser  and  had  opened  it. 
Inside  they  found  the  explosive  in  the  form  of 
loose  white  flakes.  To  keep  it  more  safely, 
they  poured  it  out  into  several  small  cloth  bags. 
They  then  took  a  sample  of  it  and  tried  by 
every  means  they  could  think  of  to  explode  it. 
They  even  laid  some  of  it  on  an  anvil  and  broke 

74 


THE  SHIP  BOMBS 

two  or  three  hammers  pounding  on  it,  but 
could  get  no  result.  They  then  told  Siebs 
that  the  stuff  he  had  delivered  was  useless. 
Wettig  volunteered  to  show  them  how  it  should 
be  handled.  Accordingly,  he  joined  them  the 
following  day  at  their  room  in  Weehawken 
and  went  with  them  out  into  the  woods  behind 
Fort  Lee,  taking  along  a  small  sample  of  the 
powder  in  a  paper  bag.  In  the  woods  the 
men  picked  up  the  top  of  a  small  tin  can,  built 
a  fire  in  the  stump  of  a  tree,  and  melted  some 
of  the  flake  **T.  N.  T."  in  it.  Before  it  cooled, 
Wettig  embedded  in  it  a  mercury  cap.  When 
cooled  after  being  melted,  T.  N.  T.  forms  a  solid 
mass  resembling  resin  in  appearance,  and  is 
now  more  powerful  because  more  compact. 

However,  before  the  experiment  could  be 
concluded,  one  of  the  swarm  of  detectives  who 
had  followed  them  into  the  woods  stepped  on  a 
dry  twig,  and  when  the  men  started  at  its 
crackling,  the  detectives  concluded  they  had 
better  make  their  arrests  before  the  men  might 
get  away;  and  so  all  were  taken  into  custody. 
A  quick  search  of  their  boarding  house,  the 
garage,  a  storage  warehouse  in  which  Fay  had 
stored  some  trunks,  and  the  boathouse  where 
the  motor  boat  was  stored,  resulted  in  rounding 
up  the  entire  paraphernalia  that  had  been  used 
in  working  out  the  whole  plot.    All  the  people 

75 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

connected  with  every  phase  of  it  were   soon 
arrested. 

Out  of  the  stories  these  men  told  upon  exami- 
nation emerged  not  only  the  hideous  perfec- 
tion of  the  bomb  itself,  but  the  direct  hand 
that  the  German  Government  and  its  agents 
in  this  country  had  in  the  scheme  of  putting 
it  to  its  fiendish  purpose.  First  of  all  appeared 
Fay's  admission  that  he  had  left  Germany  with 
money  and  a  passport  supplied  by  a  man 
in  the  German  Secret  Service.  Later,  on  the 
witness  stand,  when  Fay  had  had  time  enough 
carefully  to  think  out  the  most  plausible  story, 
he  attempted  to  get  away  from  this  admission 
by  claiming  to  have  deserted  from  the  German 
Army.  He  said  that  he  had  been  financed  in 
his  exit  from  the  German  Empire  by  a  group  of 
business  men  who  had  put  up  a  lot  of  money  to 
back  an  automobile  invention  of  his,  which  he 
had  worked  on  before  the  war  began.  These 
men,  so  he  claimed,  were  afraid  they  would 
lose  all  their  money  if  he  should  happen  to  be 
killed  before  the  invention  was  perfected. 
This  tale,  ingenious  though  it  was,  was  too 
fantastic  to  be  swallowed  when  taken  in  connec- 
tion with  all  the  things  found  in  Fay's  posses- 
sion when  he  was  arrested.  Beyond  all  doubt 
his  scheme  to  destroy  ships  was  studied  and 
approved  by  his  military  superiors  in  Germany 

76 


THE  SHIP  BOMBS 

before  he  left,  and  that  scheme  alone  was  his 
errand  to  this  country. 

Far  less  ingenious  but  equally  damning  was 
his  attempt  to  explain  away  his  relations 
with  Von  Papen.  The  sinister  figure  of  the 
military  attache  of  the  German  Embassy  at 
Washington  leers  from  the  background  of  all 
the  German  plots;  and  this  case  was  no  excep- 
tion. It  was  known  that  Fay  had  had  dealings 
with  Von  Papen  in  New  York,  and  on  the  wit- 
ness stand  he  felt  called  upon  to  explain  them 
in  a  way  that  would  clear  the  diplomatic  ser- 
vice of  participation  in  his  evil  doings.  He 
declared  that  he  had  taken  his  invention  to 
Von  Papen  and  that  Von  Papen  had  resolutely 
refused  to  have  anything  to  do  with  it.  This 
would  have  been  well  enough  if  Fay's  explana- 
tion had  stopped  here. 

But  Fay's  evil  genius  prompted  him  to  make 
his  explanation  more  convincing  by  an  elabo- 
ration of  the  story,  so  he  gave  Von  Papen^s 
reasons  for  refusal.  These  were  not  at  all 
that  the  device  was  calculated  to  do  murder 
upon  hundreds  of  helpless  men,  nor  at  all 
that  to  have  any  part  in  the  business  was  to 
play  the  unneutral  villain  under  the  cloak  of 
diplomatic  privilege.  Not  at  all.  At  the 
first  interview,  seeing  only  a  rough  sketch 
and  hearing  only  Fay's  description  of  prelim- 

77 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

inary  experiments,  Von  Papen's  sole  objection 
was: 

**Well,  you  might  obtain  an  explosion  once 
and  the  next  ten  apparatuses  might  fail." 

To  continue  Fay's  explanation: 

"He  casually  asked  me  what  the  cost  of  it 
would  be  and  I  told  him  in  my  estimation  the 
cost  would  not  be  more  than  ^20  apiece.  [$20 
apiece  for  the  destruction  of  thirty  lives  and  a 
million-dollar  ship  and  cargo!]  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  in  Germany  I  will  be  able  to  get  these 
things  made  for  half  that  price.  *If  it  is  not 
more  than  that/  Von  Papen  said,  'you  might 
go  ahead,  but  I  cannot  promise  you  anything 
whatever.'" 

Fay  then  went  back  to  his  experiments  and 
when  he  felt  that  he  had  practically  perfected 
his  device  he  called  upon  Von  Papen  for  the 
second  time.     This  time  Von  Papen's  reply  was : 

'*Well,  this  thing  has  been  placed  before  our 
experts  and  also  we  have  gone  into  the  political 
condition  of  the  w^hole  suggestion.  Now  in  the 
first  place  our  experts  say  this  apparatus  is  not 
at  all  seaworthy;  but  as  regards  political  con- 
ditions I  am  sorry  to  say  we  cannot  consider  it 
and,  therefore,  we  cannot  consider  the  whole 


situation." 


In  other  words,  with  no  thought  of  the  moral 
turpitude  of  the  scheme,  with  no  thought  of 

78 


THE  SHIP  BOMBS 

the  abuse  of  diplomatic  freedom,  but  only 
with  thoughts  of  the  practicability  of  this  de- 
vice and  of  the  effect  upon  political  conditions 
of  its  use,  Von  Papen  had  put  the  question 
before  technical  men  and  before  Von  Bernstorff, 
and  their  decision  had  been  adverse  solely  on 
those  considerations — first,  that  it  would  not 
work,  and  second,  that  it  would  arouse  hostility 
in  the  United  States.  At  no  stage,  according 
to  Fay's  best  face  upon  the  matter,  was  any 
thought  given  to  its  character  as  a  hideous  crime. 

The  device  itself  was  studied  independently 
by  two  sets  of  military  experts  of  the  United 
States  Government  with  these  results: 

First,  that  it  was  mechanically  perfect; 
second,  that  it  was  practical  under  the  condi- 
tions of  adjustment  to  a  ship's  rudder  which 
Fay  had  devised;  and  third,  that  the  charge  of 
trinitrotoluol,  for  which  the  container  was 
designed,  was  nearly  half  the  quantity  which  is 
used  on  our  own  floating  mines  and  which  is 
calculated  upon  explosion  twenty  feet  from  a 
battleship  to  put  it  out  of  action,  and  upon 
explosion  in  direct  contact,  absolutely  to  de- 
stroy and  sink  the  heaviest  superdreadnaught. 
In  other  words,  beyond  all  question  the  bomb 
would  have  shattered  the  entire  stern  of  any 
ship  to  which  it  was  attached,  and  would  have 
caused  it  to  sink  in  a  few  minutes. 

79 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

A  brief  description  of  the  contrivance  re- 
veals the  mechanical  ingenuity  and  practical 
efficiency  of  Fay's  bomb.  A  rod  attached  to  the 
rudder,  at  every  swing  the  rudder  gave,  turned 
up,  by  one  notch,  the  first  of  the  bevelled  wheels 
within  the  bomb.  After  a  certain  number  of 
revolutions  of  that  wheel,  it  in  turn  gave  one 
revolution  to  the  next;  and  so  on  through  the 
series.  The  last  wheel  was  connected  with 
the  threaded  cap  around  the  upper  end  of 
the  square  bolt,  and  made  this  cap  slowly  un- 
screw, until  at  length  the  bolt  dropped  clear 
of  it  and  yielded  to  the  waiting  pressure  of  the 
strong  steel  spring  above.  This  pressure  drove 
it  downward  and  brought  the  sharp  points 
at  its  lower  end  down  on  the  caps  of  the  two 
rifle  cartridges  fixed  below  it — like  the  blow 
of  a  rifle's  hammer.  The  detonation  from 
the  explosion  of  these  cartridges  would  set  off 
a  small  charge  of  impregnated  chlorate  of  potash, 
which  in  turn  would  fire  the  small  charge  of 
the  more  sluggish  but  stronger  dynamite,  and 
that  in  turn  would  explode  the  still  more 
sluggish  but  tremendously  more  powerful  tri- 
nitrotoluol. 

The  whole  operation,  once  the  spring  was 
free,  would  take  place  in  a  flash;  and  instantly 
its  deadly  work  would  be  accomplished. 

Picture  the  scene  that  Fay  had  in  his  mind 
80 


THE  SHIP  BOMBS 

as  he  toiled  his  six  laborious  months  upon  this 
dark  invention.  He  saw  himself,  in  imagina- 
tion, fixing  his  infernal  box  upon  the  rudder 
post  of  a  ship  loading  at  a  dock  in  New  York 
harbour.  As  the  cargo  weighed  the  ship  down, 
the  box  would  disappear  beneath  the  water. 
At  length  the  ship  starts  on  its  voyage,  and,  as 
the  rudder  swings  her  into  the  stream,  the  first 
beat  in  the  slow,  sure  knell  of  death  for  ship 
and  crew  is  clicked  out  by  its  very  turning. 
Out  upon  the  sea  the  shift  of  wind  and  blow  of 
wave  require  a  constant  correction  with  the 
rudder  to  hold  the  true  course  forward.  At 
every  swing  the  helmsman  unconsciously  taps 
out  another  of  the  lurking  beats  of  death. 
Somewhere  in  midocean,  perhaps  at  black  mid- 
night, in  a  driving  storm,  the  patient  mecha- 
nism hid  below  has  turned  the  last  of  its  calcu- 
lated revolutions.  The  neckpiece  from  the  bolt 
slips  loose,  the  spring  drives  downward,  there 
is  a  flash,  a  deafening  explosion,  and  five  min- 
utes later  a  few  mangled  bodies  and  a  chaos 
of  floating  wreckage  are  all  that  is  left  above 
the  water's  surface. 

This  is  the  hideous  dream  Fay  dreamed  in 
the  methodical  i8o  days  of  his  planning  and 
experimenting  in  New  York.  This  is  the 
dream  to  realize  which  he  was  able  to  enlist  the 
cooperation    of   half   a    dozen  other  Germans. 

8i 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

This  is  the  dream  his  superiors  in  Germany 
viewed  with  favour,  and  financed.  This  is  the 
dream  the  sinister  Von  Papen  encouraged  and 
which  he  finally  dismissed  only  because  he 
believed  it  too  good  to  be  true.  This  is  the 
dream  Fay  himself  on  the  witness  stand  said  he 
had  thought  of  as  *'a  good  joke  on  the  British." 
In  this  picture  of  infernal  imaginings  the 
true  character  of  German  plottings  in  this 
country  stands  revealed.  Ingenuity  of  con- 
ception characterized  them,  method  and  pa- 
tience and  painstaking  made  them  perfect. 
Flawless  logic,  flawless  mechanism.  But  on 
the  human  side,  only  the  blackest  passions  and 
an  utter  disregard  of  human  life;  no  thought  of 
honour,  no  trace  of  human  pity.  It  happened 
in  the  case  of  Fay  that  the  agent  himself  was 
ruthless  and  deserved  far  more  than  what  the 
limit  of  existing  law  was  able  to  give  him  when 
he  was  convicted  of  his  crimes.  But  through  all 
the  plots  Von  Papen,  Von  Bernstorff,  and  the 
Imperial  German  Government  in  Berlin  were 
consistent.  Their  hand  was  at  the  helm  of  all, 
and  the  same  ruthless  grasping  after  domina- 
tion of  the  world  at  any  price  led  to  the  same 
barbarous  code  of  conduct  in  them  all. 


82 


CHAPTER  IV 
The  Inside   Story  of  the  Captain  of  the 

*'ElTEL    FrIEDRICH" 

OUT  of  the  black  picture  of  the  German  de- 
pravity in  fighting  this  war  have  emerged 
four  or  five  dramatic  episodes  that  have  stirred 
the  imagination  of  the  world  and  appealed  to 
the  romantic  and  chivalric  instincts  even  of 
Germany's  enemies.  The  cruise  of  the  Emden 
will  always  remain  one  of  the  glorious  traditions 
of  the  sea.  The  knightly  spirit  of  those  Ger- 
man aviators  who  flew  low  over  the  bier  of 
their  fallen  foe  of  the  French  cavalry  of  the 
clouds,  and  strewed  flowers  upon  it,  was  in 
the  spirit  of  the  best  that  war  produces. 
America  was  the  scene  of  two  such  episodes. 
The  first  unexpected  appearance  of  the  U'S3 
upon  our  shores,  rising  unheralded  from  the 
unsuspected  waters,  thrilled  the  sporting  instinct 
of  our  people.  But  perhaps  the  most  dramatic 
incident  was  the  arrival  of  the  Prinz  Eitel 
Friedrich. 

83 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

During  the  night  of  March  9-10,  1915,  this 
gallant  cruiser  of  the  Kaiserliche  Marine, 
slipped  into  the  harbour  at  Norfolk,  having 
run  the  British  blockade  of  cruisers  outside 
the  three-mile  limit,  ending  a  career  of  six 
months  as  a  commerce  raider,  recalling  the 
feats  of  the  Alabama  in  the  Civil  War.  The 
Eitel  Friedrich  was  soon  interned  for  the  period 
of  the  war  and  her  officers  and  crew  put  under 
formal  arrest.  Even  the  British,  whose  fleet 
had  been  outwitted,  gave  their  tribute  of 
praise  to  the  men  who  had  taken  their  fair 
chance  and  had  got  away.-  Captain  Max  Thier- 
ichens  and  his  crew  became  objects  of  admira- 
tion to  the  world.  They  were  showered  with 
felicitations,  most  of  all,  as  was  natural  enough, 
from  Germans  and  German-Americans. 

That  is  the  bright  side  of  the  picture — and 
no  one,  even  now,  would  care  to  dim  its  lus- 
tre. 

But  even  at  his  best  the  German  of  the  ruling 
class  seems  tainted  with  the  ineradicable  nature 
of  the  beast.  The  world  has  long  accepted 
the  Latin  affinity  of  Mars  and  Venus — perhaps 
too  complacently,  though  not  without  reason 
— so  it  would  not  have  been  surprised  if  the 
gallant  Thierichens  had  not  measured  up  to 
the  standards  of  a  Galahad.  Nevertheless, 
It  had  a  right  to  expect  that   he   would   not 

84 


THE  STORY  OF  CAPTAIN  THIERICHENS 

descend  to  the  level  of  a  Caliban;  and  Thieri- 
chens  fell  below  even  that  low  standard. 

Among  the  great  quantities  of  letters  of  con- 
gratulation which  Captain  Thierichens  re- 
ceived were  many  from  German-American 
women.  They  were  stirred  by  the  brilliancy 
of  his  exploit :  it  was  a  ray  of  light  in  the  gloom 
that  had  fallen  on  the  Teuton  peoples  after 
the  Battle  of  the  Marne,  when  the  rosy  vision 
of  quick  victory  had  turned  to  the  gray  fog  of 
a  long,  defensive  war.  These  letters  breathed 
the  passionate  loyalty  of  the  German  spirit 
to  the  Fatherland.  To  these  women,  Thieri- 
chens was  the  embodiment  of  the  martial  spirit 
of  their  race — the  spirit  of  the  sons  they  saw 
themselves  in  imagination  sending  forth  to  war. 
Some  phrases  from  their  letters  strike  the  key: 

It  is  a  pleasure  for  us  to  help  our  German  brothers,  but 
I  also  understand  that  you,  my  dear  brother,  are  waiting 
to  come  out  from  your  predicament.  How  grand  it  is 
that  you  are  receiving  letters  from  the  Fatherland.  We 
don't  hear  anything.  Can't  write  anything,  as  the  letters 
are  not  being  delivered.  So  far  good  news.  It  is  wonder- 
ful. My  heart  is  jumping  with  joy.  I  look  with  con- 
fidence in  the  future.  I  have  to  please  so  many;  have  so 
many  times  to  defend  my  Germany,  but  I  have  an  unlim- 
ited confidence  in  God  and  in  the  truth. 

Again:  Hold  your  head  high  and  do  not  forget:  "star- 
light itself  is  in  the  night  and  God  does  not  forsake  his 


8s 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

Their  attitude  was  one  of  high  patriotism 
and  maternal  solicitude.  They  sent  him  books 
and  delicacies,  scraps  of  news  from  Germany, 
and  in  every  way  sought  to  comfort  and  inspirit 
their  hero. 

Thierichens  was  indifferent  to  the  lofty  pur- 
pose of  these  letters.  His  mind  was  depraved 
by  the  social  custom  of  military  Germany  by 
which  men  of  the  officer  class  are  in  youth 
taught  to  consider  themselves  above  the  moral 
law.  He  was  quite  aware  of  the  kinship  of 
all  emotions,  and  he  promptly  undertook  to 
change  the  direction  of  these  currents  of  pas- 
sion into  a  channel  more  pleasing  to  his  tastes. 
It  was  not  long  until  he  had  narrowed  his 
correspondence  chiefly  to  three  women  and 
of  these  more  particularly  to  two.  Of  these 
latter  one  was  a  German  servant  girl  of  rather 
better  than  average  understanding,  and  the 
other  a  kindergarten  teacher  in  the  Middle 
West,  one  twenty-five  and  the  other  forty-five 
years  of  age.  Their  correspondence  in  both 
cases  started  on  an  exalted  plane.  It  ended  in 
depravity  unprintable.  Only  a  reading  of  the 
complete  series  of  Thierichens's  letters  to  these 
women  could  give  a  full  understanding  of  the 
heartlessness,  the  baseness,  and  the  ingenuity 
with  which  this  man,  always  playing  upon  their 
patriotic  fervour,  transmuted  their  finer  feelings 

86 


THE  STORY  OF  CAPTAIN  THIERICHENS 

into  the  most  degrading  travesty  of  romantic 
love.  He  and  the  kindergarten  teacher  never 
met.  But  by  the  time  their  correspondence 
came  under  Government  censorship  it  had 
become  a  blend  of  exahed  patriotism  and  of 
passion  perverted  to  the  obscenities  pictured 
on  the  walls  of  ruined  Pompeii. 

Terrible  as  was  the  plight  to  which  the  teacher 
had  descended,  the  case  in  which  the  German 
servant  found  herself  was  infinitely  worse. 
Thierichens  and  she  had  met  after  their  first 
interchange  of  letters  and  they  had  entered 
on  a  liaison  of  a  character  that  became  so  base 
it  cannot  even  be  suggested. 

All  this  while  Thierichens  was  in  corres- 
pondence with  at  least  eight  other  misguided 
women.  Fortunately  for  them  the  strong  hand 
of  the  law  intervened  and  Thierichens  to-day 
is  safely  behind  prison  bars  for  his  crimes. 
In  the  midst  of  this  promiscuous  correspondence 
he  was  receiving  letters  of  affection  and  devotion 
from  his  vv^ife  and  children,  two  of  which  may  well 
be  reproduced  to  make  clearer  the  depth  to  which 
he  fell.  One  is  from  his  little  daughter  Christel, 
the  other  from  his  wife.     They  are  as  follows: 

Kiel,  November  26,  1916. 
My  Dear  Father: 

My  darling,  to-day  the  day  of  my  6th  birthday,  I 
will  thank  you  all  alone  for  the  pretty  things,  lovely 

87 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

kisses  for  same.  I  hope  my  next  birthday  you  will  be 
with  us  again.  I  am  praying  every  evening  and  morning 
to  the  dear  God  that  he  will  protect  my  dear  father, 
and  that  the  war  will  soon  be  ended,  and  you  come 
again  to  the  dear  Fatherland. 

Many  hundred  thousand  kisses  sent  you, 

Your  thankful  daughter, 

Christel. 

Kiel,  Germany,  23rd  March,  191 7. 
My  Only  Muckicken  : 

I  want  to  chat  with  you  again  a  little  to-day;  had 
very  little  time  yesterday;  did  some  shopping  morning, 
and  some  stocking  mending  in  the  afternoon;  some 
linen  work  in  the  evening;  went  early  to  bed;  had  love 
pains;  had  a  little  cold.  This  morning  I  went  with 
Christel  to  Karestadt,  bought  some  stockings,  a  school 
hat  and  gloves  for  her;  also  a  leather  hat  for  Elly;  very 
neat.  I  am  dressing  Elly  still  like  a  child;  she  also  is 
still  wearing  her  hair  down  her  back;  she  is  any  way  a 
child  yet.  To-morrow  I  will  get  some  bones  from  the 
war  kitchen  for  Fritz,  and  then  I  shall  ride  together  with 
the  children  to  Aunt  Niemann.  To-day  is  a  sunny 
day,  but  still  a  little  cold.  And  now  I  shall  answer 
No.  50.  From  Christmas  Eve,  24-12-16.  No,  darling, 
we  want  to  hope  that  we  shall  enjoy  the  6th  Christmas 
evening  together;  a  description  of  our  Christmas  evening 
you  probably  received.  You  darling,  you're  writing  so 
as  if  we  were  hungry,  no,  my  darling,  we  have  not  had 
any  hunger  here  in  Germany  yet.  We  are  having  our 
butter,  eggs,  meat,  bread,  and  potatoes  every  day;  only 
not  so  much  of  it  as  in  times  of  peace.  Well,  of  course, 
then  everything  was  extravagantly  used.  So  now  every- 
body has  to  learn  to  be  economical  which  is  a  good  lesson 

88 


CAPTAIN  THIERICHENS  (top) 
And  scenes  on  the  Eitel  Friedrich,  which  escaped  from  Tsing-tau  and  interned 

at  Norfolk 


THE  STORY  OF  CAPTAIN  THIERICHENS 

for  days  to  come,  so  please  don't  listen  to  the  talk  of  our 
enemies, — we  are  all  right;  nobody  will  conquer  us;  God, 
the  Lord,  won't  leave  us  alone, — we  are  all  brave.  What 
did  Russia  gain  by  the  revolution?  Something  of  that 
kind  is  impossible  in  Germany.  The  responsibility  for 
same  rests  with  England  again.  We  shall  wait  to  see 
how  everything  turns  out.  England  will  be  punished 
surely.  Now,  my  darling,  enough  for  to-day.  Please  re- 
main healthy,  and  retain  your  humor.  Be  thankful  and 
bravely  greeted  from  your  three  sprouts  and  Thiere. 

To  make  complete  the  picture  of  this  hero 
of  the  Prussian  officer  class,  it  may  be  well 
to  quote  also  the  round  robin  of  the  crew 
of  the  Prinz  Eitel  Friedrich,  To  them  even  the 
air  of  an  American  internment  camp  was 
the  breath  of  freedom  compared  to  their  service 
on  a  ship  of  his  Imperial  Majesty's  Marine. 
Here  is  their  opinion  of  life  in  it  and  of  their 
gallant  captain: 

Fort  Oglethorpe,  Ga., 
July  8. 
United  States  District  Attorney, 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Dear  Sir: 

We  of  the  crew  of  the  Prince  Eitel  Friedrichy  beg  to 
inform  you  about  the  conditions  as  there  had  been  existing 
on  board  said  vessel,  and  of  the  character  of  Captain 
Max  Thierichens.  He  is  one  of  the  most  cruel  and  dis- 
honest men  who  ever  had  been  in  charge  of  a  vessel.  He 
is  a  disgrace  to  any  military  organization,  and  we  feel 
ashamed  that  he  brought  disgrace  to  our  vessel.     He  is 

89 


FIGHTING  GERMANY^S  SPIES 

one  of  the  worst  egoists  in  existence,  without  any  feeling 
for  his  fellowmen.  He  is  guilty  of  using  the  United 
States  mails  for  fraudulent  purposes,  advertising  in  the 
papers  that  he  would  receive  liehesgahen  (love  packages) 
for  the  soldiers  in  order  to  benefit  himself,  and  later 
selling  the  same  in  the  cantine  after  an  inspection  and 
rilling;  he  kept  everything  of  value.  He  has  received 
1,000  of  packages  and  money  from  very  near  every  Ger- 
man society  and  countless  private  people,  but  his  men 
never  saw  a  penny  of  the  same.  The  money  he  has  spent 
for  himself  and  some  of  his  officers  in  his  orgies. 

As  we  had  been  out  on  the  high  seas,  he  only  had  an 
eye  for  his  personal  welfare.  If  we  met  a  vessel,  after 
stopping  the  same,  the  first  thing  he  always  did  was  to 
secure  as  much  wine  and  other  good  things  for  himself, 
and  officers,  so  that  they  always  had  plenty.  He  would 
not  allow  his  sailors  to  bring  enough  potatoes  and  common 
food  on  board  to  satisfy  their  hunger.  There  had  been 
cases  where  men  had  been  severe  punished  just  for  taking 
a  piece  of  meat  from  the  table  of  one  of  the  sunken  vessels. 
The  men  did  not  even  have  drinking  water  but  he  and 
his  officers  used  the  same  for  bathing.  He  had  been 
afraid  that  the  U.  S.  Government  would  find  out  about 
his  various  misdeeds,  so  in  order  to  make  the  Govern- 
ment think  that  he  was  all  he  should  have  represented  he 
pulled  off  the  biggest  bluff  ever  thought  of.  He  told  ten 
men  that  they  could  run  off,  supplied  the  same  with 
money,  and  after  a  few  moments  sent  some  other  boys 
over  the  side  to  make  as  much  noise  as  possible  to  call 
the  attention  of  the  guards.  He  had  his  men  maltreated 
wherever  there  was  a  chance  to  do  so.  He  even  did  this 
after  we  had  been  brought  to  Fort  Oglethorpe.  We  have 
to  thank  the  U.  S.  Officers  for  putting  a  stop  to  it.  The 
captain  had  been  mad  that  he  lost  the  power  over  the 

90 


THE  STORY  OF  CAPTAIN  THIERICHENS 

men.  He  swore  he  would  bring  the  men  to  a  military 
prison  for  years  to  come,  simply  because  they  refused 
to  be  treated  like  dogs  after  being  informed  by  the  U.  S. 
Officers  that  they  don't  have  to  stand  for  anything  like 
that.  If  it  was  not  for  the  iron  discipline  maintained 
by  the  Germans,  there  would  have  been  a  mutiny  on 
board  the  ship.  Even  a  common  man  hates  to  see  good 
supplies  going  to  waste  just  because  the  captain  could 
not  get  quick  enough  to  his  wine,  and  the  men  feed  on 
hardtack  that  was  full  of  wormiS.  Some  of  the  men  are 
wilHng  to  appear  in  court  against  the  captain  to  bear  out 
because  they  are  not  protected  by  the  U.  S.  Government, 
and  may  have  to  face  a  court  martial  law  if  they  are 
returned  to  Germany.  We  do  hope  that  there  will  be 
an  investigation  of  the  evil  doings  of  said  Captain.  If 
found  guilty,  we  do  hope  that  he  may  find  out  what  it 
does  mean  to  do  wrong  to  his  fellowmen. 


91 


CHAPTER  V 

James  J.  F.  Archibald  and  His  Pro-German 
Activities 

THE  case  of  James  J.  F.  Archibald,  war 
correspondent,  is  another  sample  of  the 
Germans'  fatal  gift  for  trusting  a  weak  link 
in  an  otherwise  ingenious  and  complete  chain. 
Their  "cleverness"  was  the  cleverness  of  the 
cocky  boy  who  thinks  he  can  outwit  any  one. 
The  sad  ending  of  Archibald's  career,  the  igno- 
minious exposure  of  his  character  as  a  messenger 
for  the  Germans,  was  simplicity  itself.  And  the 
revelations  contained  in  the  messages  he  carried 
were  most  discreditable  to  the  honour  and  the 
wisdom  of  the  plotters  in  the  Teutonic  embassies. 
The  story  begins  on  July  29,  1914,  six  days 
after  Austria's  ultimatum  to  Serbia  and  three 
days  before  the  formal  historical  date  of  the 
opening  of  the  war.  On  that  day  an  enter- 
prising American  newspaper  syndicate  tele- 
graphed  Mr.   Archibald   as  follows: 

Please  telegraph  us  your  terms  for  going  to  the  European 
war,  so  that  we  can  size  up  the  syndicate  field.  As  soon 
as  received  will  try  for  quick  action. 

The  Wheeler  Syndicate,  Inc. 

92 


THE  ACTIVITIES  OF  JAMES  ARCHIBALD 

Archibald  soon  had  his  arrangements  made, 
though  his  employers  were  ignorant  of  the 
reason  for  the  surprising  ease  with  which  he 
obtained  the  highest  possible  entree  to  the 
best  possible  points  of  observation  within  the 
German  lines.  It  should  be  said  at  once  that 
their  attitude  was  perfectly  correct  and  that 
the  moment  they  discovered  the  true  nature 
of  his  errand  they  discharged  him  by  cable, 
on  October  27th.  But  that  comes  later  in 
the  story. 

Archibald  was  a  man  of  true  grandiose 
German  style.  Writing  to  the  syndicate  on 
September  4th  he  said: 

You  should  not  confound  my  efforts  with  more  than 
five  hundred  correspondents  of  every  description  who  have 
attempted  to  get  to  the  Enghsh,  French,  and  Belgian 
fronts,  none  of  them  with  any  official  recognition  and  most 
of  them  without  even  a  passport.  At  the  hysterical 
beginning  of  the  war,  correspondents  are  very  much  in 
the  way  but  every  cartoonist,  humorist,  and  amateur 
millionaire  who  wanted  a  Httle  private  excitement  rushed 
to  the  front  and  embarrassed  the  armies  in  their  mobil- 
ization and  naturally  they  were  not  gladly  received. 
I  have  been  working  quietly,  just  as  I  did  In  the  Russian 
War  when  I  was  the  first,  and  only,  foreign  correspondent 
to  be  accepted  after  four  months'  waiting. 

There  is  no  necessity  of  coming  into  conflict  with  any 
censors  if  one  knows  military  censorship  as  I  do,  for  all 
they  require  is  that  you  will  not  embarrass  their  present 
actual  movements.     There  is  not  one  single  foreign  cor- 

93 


SCRNAC  C«B«S<T 

WASHINCTOM   p   w 


J.Nfl   A  2875. 


Dear  Sir, 

I  beg  to  enclose  a  ,no*.ice"  to  prospective 
Afflorlcan  travellers  and  to  ask  whether  you  could  have 
It  printed  as  advertisement  in  the  newspapers  mention 
ed  on  the  encl6sed  list  once  a  week  during  the  next 
three  or  foufweeks.  1  presume  that  the  prices  given 
are  correct  end  that  it  will  be  possible  to  reduce 
the  rates  somewhat  for  a  repetition  of  the  advertise- 
Eent. 

Thanking  you  In  advance  for  a  kind  answer  at 
jfour  earliest  convenience,  I  am 

Yours  very  truly, 
For  .the  German  Ambassador 


Councillor  of  the  Embassy. 


Ir.  Albert  J.  Schaffer, 
Washington, D.C. 


THE  "  LUSITANIA  "  WARNING 
This  letter,  signed  by  Haniel,  the  Councillor  of  the  German  Embassy 
in  Washington,  clears  up  the    mystery   of   the    advertisement    printed 
in  leading  newspapers  in  all  parts  of  the   country  on  May   i,    1915, 


94 


.NOTICE! 

TRAVELLERS  Intending  to  embark  on  the  Atlantic  voyage 
are  reminded  that  a  State  of  War  exists  between  Germany  and 
her  Allies  and  Great  Britain  and  her  Allies;  that  the  zone 
of  war  includes  the  waters  adjacent  to  the  British  Isles; 
that,  In  accordance  with  formal  notice  given,  by  the  Imperia 
German  Government,  vessels  flying  the  flag  of  Great  Britain 
or  of  any  of  her  Allies,  are  liable  to  destruction  in  those 
waters  and  that  travellers  sailing  in  the  war  zone  on  ships 
of  Great  Britain  or  her  Allies  do  so  at  their  own  risk. 

IMPERIAL  GERMAN  EMBASSY 
Washington, D.C., April  22,1915. 


a  LINE 

•Screnr   Eteamshtp* 

to  GLASGOW 

May  1,  Noon 

torn   Pier   64,    N.    R. 

ulverpooL' 

Foot  W.  l«h  tit., 

^^^4  state  st..  n'.  y. 


I  Ali-the-Way 
I.   J>y-Watef 

*  LINX;.  Steamships 
Star.     Lve.  Pier  19, 

nt..    C    P.    M.    Tups.. 

Ilchtnu  a90-mlle.  22- 
the    CiTY   BBAUTI- 

,so  Tourist  and  N.   Y. 

Phone :     8980 — Cort. 

IP  COBPORATION. 


;  UNE 

them  BoBt« 

•our»    from    Pari*. 

GS  «  MAK8^1LL£;B 

Sant'   Anna.. June  S 
Lisbon   ft   Marseille* 

Roma. iA«g.    8 

4..  17  State  6t.,  N.  Y. 


VLIANO 

11  OATS.     .         ^ 


T  I.  O  B  I  D  A 


I4ne.   New  Yor 


-H.  osjnw. 


■ADVERTTBEarayT. 


NOTICE! 

TRAVELLERS  intenaing  to 
embark  on  the  Atlantic  voyage 
are  reminded  that  a  state  of 
war  exists  between  Germany 
and  her  allies  and  Great  Britain 
and  her  allies;  that  the  zone  of 
war  includes  the  wateri'  adja- 
cent to  the  British  Isles;  that, 
in  accordance  with  formal  no- 
tice given  by  the  Imperial  Ger- 
man Government,  vessels  fly- 
ing the  flag  of  Great  Britain,  or 
of  any  of  her  allies,  are  liable  to 
destruction  in  those  waters  and 
that  travellers  sailing  in  the  war 
zone  on  ships  of  Great  Britain 
or  her  allies  do  so  at  their  own 
risk. 

IMPERIAL  GERMAN  EMBA33Y 

WAeHiNairoN,  d.  c,  april  22,  1915. 


BAMKBtJPTOT.  UrOTICES. 


u    Ot>en  Jlmis  lit:  >  Set 
8.  B.   MANWA&n^Q; 


heatonTh^ 

Stockbridge,  Ma^&A) 

in  th«  Berkshir*  H 

WILL  OPEN  JUME: 

TblB  Modern  Hotel  Is  Finely  A 
pellghtfully  tocated.  Tbe  Man, 
SaavlU,'  will  be  at  the  Hotel  ST« 
47tb  St.,  New  York,  from  April. 
10th.  Information  ragardloj  rati 
'bo  pronipt,ly  jittended  to. 


/     Marblehead,  Ma 

THE  ROCk-M^ 

Hotel  d«  Luxe  Opens' 

\    Faces  all  the  Yacl 
BOOKLIpTS       G.   H.   ERA 


EARLY^GOi 

STOCKBRIDGE,  F 

RED  LION  I 

NOW   OPEN. 


MDiinlli 


five  days  before  the  Lusitania  was  sunk.  The  date  on  Haniel's  letter 
and  the  repetition  of  it  on  the  copy  of  the  advertisement  as  supplied  by 
him,  clears  up  the  hitherto  unexplained  discrepancy  between  the  date  on 
the  advertisement  and  the  date  of  its  publication  i  J*  ' 

95 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

respondent  with  either  the  German  or  Austrian  armies, 
and  it  will  be  a  great  achievement  to  get  dispatches  out 
from  there  and  I  am  positive,  with  the  papers  that  I  now 
hold,  that  there  will  be  no  difficulty  whatever.  The 
difficulty  is  merely  in  establishing  one's  responsibility 
with  these  armies,  and  my  residence  in  Washington  for 
the  last  ten  years  has  been  for  that  purpose  alone. 

Archibald  was  soon  in  Germany  and  began 
sending  back  cable  dispatches  to  a  syndicate  of 
papers,  the  principal  ones  of  which  were  the 
New  York  Times,  Tribune,  and  World.  His 
dispatches,  however,  were  so  blatantly  pro- 
German  and  had  so  much  more  propaganda 
than  news  in  them  that  these  papers  quickly 
became  dissatisfied.  For  example,  the  Times 
cut  out  of  one  of  his  dispatches  a  large  section 
of  fulsome  eulogy  of  the  German  Government. 
Imagine  their  astonishment  the  next  morning 
to  receive  a  telephone  call  from  Captain 
Boy-Ed,  the  Naval  Attache  of  the  German 
Embassy  with  offices  in  New  York.  Captain 
Boy-Ed  demanded  the  reason  for  the  omis- 
sion of  these  paragraphs.  The  Times  natur- 
ally demanded  Captain  Boy-Ed's  source  of 
information  that  such  paragraphs  existed. 
It  soon  developed  that  Boy-Ed  was  receiving 
direct  from  Germany  duplicates  of  all  the 
material  that  Archibald  was  cabling  for  pub- 
lication.     As    soon    as    the    American    news- 

96 


THE  ACTIVITIES  OF  JAMES  ARCHIBALD 

papers  understood  this  situation  they  dedined 
to  proceed  further.  In  the  same  spirit  and 
simultaneously  the  Wheeler  Syndicate  '* fired" 
Mr.  Archibald  by  cable  and  wrote  him  a  sting- 
ing letter  from  which  the  following  two  para- 
graphs may  be  quoted: 

Perhaps  because  of  the  nature  of  your  stuff,  at  any 
rate,  we  have  to  face  the  veiled  insinuation  that  you  are 
in  the  pay  of  the  German  and  Austrian  Governments. 
In  this  connection,  we  have  been  told  that  the  German 
and  Austrian  Ambassadors  to  this  country  have  received 
in  skeleton  form  the  several  wireless  dispatches  you  sent 
to  us  addressed  care  the  Times.  We  think  you  should 
know  this,  and  also  know  that,  with  the  nature  of  your 
dispatches  such  as  they  were,  we  dared  not  allow  our- 
selves, by  continuing  the  service,  to  be  laid  open  to  the 
charge  that  we  were  in  the  employ  of  the  German  and 
Austrian  Governments.  So  we  had  to  terminate  the 
service. 

We  have  instructed  the  Times  not  to  accept  any  more 
wireless  dispatches  from  you,  and  the  wireless  company 
has  been  notified  that  no  dispatches  will  be  accepted. 
We  regret  exceedingly  the  situation,  but  it  is  one  that  has 
arisen  solely  from  the  fact  that  you  have  sent  over  your 
personal  pro-German  opinions  instead  of  the  battlefront 
news  you  assured  us  that  you  would  furnish  us. 

Nothing  daunted  by  these  rebuffs,  Archi- 
bald continued  his  exploits  as  **war  corres- 
pondent," interspersing  his  labours  at  the  front 
with  voyages  back  to  the  United  States,  osten- 
sibly to  deliver  lectures.     The  true  character 

97 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

of  his  movements  stands  revealed  in  a  letter 
Archibald  received  from  Bernstorff,  the  Ger- 
man Ambassador,  a  few  days  before  he  em- 
barked on  the  voyage  from  New  York  which 
was  to  be  his  last.  This  letter  was  written 
from  Bernstorff's  summer  home  at  Cedarhurst, 
Long  Island,  on  the  19th  of  August,  1915, 
and  reads  as  follows: 

Dear  Mr,  Archibald: 

I  send  you  herewith  the  two  letters  of  recommenda- 
tion asked  for  and  hope  that  they  will  be  useful  to  you. 
I  learn  with  pleasure  that  you  wish  once  again  to  return 
to  Germany  and  Austria  as  you  have  interceded  for  our 
concerns  here  so  courageously  and  successfully. 
With  best  compliments, 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

Bernstorff. 

One  of  these  letters  was  as  follows: 

The  German  Frontier  Custom  Authorities  are  re- 
quested to  kindly  give  to  the  bearer  of  this  letter,  Mr 
James  J.  F.  Archibald,  from  New  York,  who  is  going  to 
Germany  with  photographic  apparatus,  etc.,  in  order  to 
collect  material  for  lectures  in  the  United  States  in  the 
interests  of  Germany^  all  possible  facilities  compatible 
with  regulations  in  the  dispatching  of  his  luggage. 

Imperial  Ambassador 
Bernstorff. 

The  familiar  story  of  what  happened  next 
is  that  Archibald  carried  some  secret  docu- 
ments for  Bernstorff  and  Dumba  in  a  hollow 

98 


THE  ACTIVITIES  OF  JAMES  ARCHIBALD 

cane.  This  could  scarcely  be,  for  the  docu- 
ments he  carried  were  so  numerous  and  some 
of  them  so  bulky  that  the  cane  would  need  to 
have  been  a  giant's  walking  stick.  In  any 
event,  the  documents  themselves  are  of  more 
interest  than  their  vehicle.  They  were  taken 
from  Archibald  by  the  British  authorities  at 
Falmouth.  The  series  can  be  best  introduced 
by  a  letter  from  Ambassador  Dumba  to  his 
chief,  Baron  Burian,  Minister  for  Foreign 
Affairs  in  Vienna,  which  reads: 

My  Lord  : 

Yesterday  evening  Consul  General  von  Nuber  received 
the  inclosed  aide  mhnoire  from  the  chief  editor  of  the 
locally  known  paper^  Szabodsog,  after  a  previous  con- 
ference with  him  and  in  pursuance  of  his  proposals  to 
arrange  for  strikes  in  the  Bethlehem  Schwab  steel  and 
munitions  war  factory,  and  also  in  the  Middle  West. 

Dr.  Archibald,  who  is  well  known  to  your  lordship, 
leaves  to-day  at  12  o'clock  on  board  the  Rotterdam,  for 
Berlin  and  Vienna.  I  take  this  rare  and  safe  opportunity 
to  warmly  recommend  the  proposal  to  your  lordship's 
favourable  consideration. 

It  is  my  impression  that  we  can  disorganize  and  hold 
up  for  months,  if  not  entirely  prevent,  the  manufacture 
of  munitions  in  Bethlehem  and  the  Middle  West,  Vv^hich, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  German  military  attache,  is  of  great 
importance  and  amply  outweighs  the  expenditure  of 
money  involved. 

But  even  if  strikes  do  not  come  off,  it  is  probable  that 
we  should  extort,  under  the  pressure  of  the  crisis,  more 

99 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

favourable  conditions  of  labour  for  our  poor,  down-trodden 
fellow  countrymen.  In  Bethlehem  these  white  slaves  are 
now  working  for  twelve  hours  a  day  and  seven  days  a  week. 
All  weak  persons  succumb  and  become  consumptives. 

So  far  as  German  workmen  are  found  among  the 
skilled  hands,  a  means  of  leaving  will  be  provided  for 
them. 

Besides  this  a  private  German  registry  office  has 
been  established,  which  provided  employment  for  persons 
who  have  voluntarily  given  up  their  places,  and  is  already 
working  well.  They  will  also  join,  and  the  widest  support 
is  assured  me. 

I  beg  your  excellency  to  be  so  good  as  to  inform  me 
with  reference  to  this  letter  by  wireless  telegraphyp  reply- 
ing whether  you  agree. 

DUMBA. 

The  consideration  which  "Doctor"  Archi- 
bald received  for  his  complacency  in  giving 
his  friends  Dumba  and  Bernstorff  "this  rare 
and  safe  opportunity"  is  indicated  by  his 
receipt  of  April  24,  191 5,  to  the  German 
Embassy  in  Washington  for  $5,000  for  propa- 
ganda work. 

Further  light  upon  "the  enclosed  aide 
memoire.  ...  in  pursuance  of  his  pro- 
posals to  arrange  for  strikes  in  the  Bethlehem 
Schwab  steel  and  munitions  war  factory,"  is 
gained  by  the  following  quotations  from  the 
enclosure  mentioned  by  Dumba  in  his  letter 
to  Burian.  The  enclosure  was  an  outline  of 
a  scheme  for  fomenting  strikes,  submitted  to 

100 


THE  ACTIVITIES  OF  JAMES  ARCHIBALD 

Dumba    by    William    Warm,    the    Editor    of 
Szahodsog  [in  English,  Freedom.] 

In  my  opinion  we  must  start  a  very  strong  agitation 
on  this  question  in  the  Freedom  {Szahodsog)  a  leading 
organ,  with  respect  to  the  Bethlehem  works  and  the 
conditions  there.  This  can  be  done  in  two  ways,  and 
both  must  be  utilized.  In  the  first  place,  a  regular  daily 
section  must  be  devoted  to  the  conditions  obtaining  there 
and  a  campaign  must  be  regularly  conducted  against 
those  indescribably  degrading  conditions.  The  Freedom 
has  already  done  something  similar  in  the  recent  past, 
when  the  strike  movement  began  at  Bridgeport.  It 
must  naturally  take  the  form  of  strong,  deliberate,  decided, 
and  courageous  action.  Secondly,  the  writer  of  these 
lines  would  begin  a  labour  novel  in  that  newspaper  much 
on  the  lines  of  Upton  Sinclair's  celebrated  story,  and  this 
might  be  published  in  other  local  Hungarian,  Slovak, 
and  German  newspapers  also.  Here  we  arrive  at  the 
point  that  naturally  we  shall  also  require  other  news- 
papers. The  American  Magyar  Nepszava  (Word  of  the 
People)  will  undoubtedly  be  compelled  willingly  or  un- 
willingly to  follow  the  movement  initiated  by  the  Free- 
dom (Szahodsog),  for  it  will  be  pleasing  to  the  entire 
Hungarian  element  in  America,  and  an  absolute  patriotic 
act  to  which  that  open  journal  (the  Nepszava)  could 
not  adopt  a  hostile  attitude.     .     .     . 

In  the  interest  of  successful  action  at  Bethlehem  and 
the  Middle  West,  besides  the  Szahodsog,  the  Nepszava, 
the  new  daily  paper  of  Pittsburg  must  be  set  in  motion, 
and  those  of  Bridgeport,  Youngtown  District,  etc.,  also 
two  Slovak  papers.  Under  these  circumstances,  the 
first  necessity  is  money.  To  Bethlehem  must  be  sent 
as  many  reliable  Hungarian  and  German  workmen  as 

lOl 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

I  can  lay  my  hands  on  who  will  join  the  factories  and 
begin  their  work  in  secret  among  their  fellow  workmen. 
For  this  purpose,  I  have  my  men  Turners  in  Steelwork. 
We  must  send  an  organizer,  who  in  the  interests  of  the 
Union  will  begin  the  business  in  his  own  way.  We 
must  also  send  so-called  "soap-box"  orators  who 
will  know,  and  so  to  start  a  useful  agitation.  We  shall 
want  money  for  popular  meetings  and  possibly  for  or- 
ganizing picnics.  In  general,  the  same  applies  to  the 
Middle  West.  I  am  thinking  of  Pittsburg  and  Cleveland 
in  the  first  instance,  as  to  which  I  could  give  details  only 
if  I  were  to  return  and  spend  at  least  a  few  days  there. 

It  is  my  opinion  that  for  the  special  object  of  starting 
the  Bethlehem  business  and  for  the  Bethlehem  and 
Western  newspaper  campaign,  $15,000  to  $20,000  must 
be  able  to  be  disposed  of,  but  it  is  not  possible  to  reckon 
how  much  will  ultimately  be  required;  when  a  beginning 
has  been  made  it  will  be  possible  to  see  how  things  de- 
velop, and  where  and  how  much  it  is  worth  while  to 
spend.  The  above-mentioned  preliminary  sum  would 
suffice  to  partially  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  necessary 
newspapers  and  to  a  considerable  extent  those  of  the 
Bethlehem  campaign. 

These  documents  should  be  read  in  the 
light  of  their  date,  August  20,  1915,  and  of  the 
fact  that  the  United  States  was  a  neutral 
nation,  still  harbouring  the  representatives  of 
the  '* friendly"  German  and  Austro-Hungarian 
empires.  They  are  conclusive  enough,  in 
themselves,  of  the  pernicious  activities  of 
these  Embassies,  but  they  wiill  become  doubly 
significant  in  a  later  article  in  this  series  when 

102 


THE  ACTIVITIES  OF  JAMES  ARCHIBALD 

they  are  read  in  the  Hght  of  the  activities  of 
"Labour's  National  Peace  Council/* 

Another  document  which  Dumba  entrusted 
to  Archibald  was  his  report  to  Burian  on  the 
then  recent  publication  in  the  New  York  World 
of  the  papers  taken  from  a  satchel  left  in  an 
elevated  train  by  Dr.  Heinrich  Albert,  the 
financial  adviser  of  the  German  Embassy  in 
America  and  the  paymas'ter  for  a  great  deal 
of  its  work  in  plots  and  propaganda.  This 
dispatch  of  Dumba's  is  worthy  of  reproduction 
in  full.     It  is : 

A  map  and  a  number  of  documents — typed  but  un- 
finished copies  or  statements  of  petitioners — were  stolen 
from  the  financial  adviser  of  the  German  Embassy  here, 
obviously  by  the  English  Secret  Service.  These  docu- 
ments are  now  pubHshed  in  the  current  issue  of  the 
World,  which  has  gone  over  to  the  EngHsh  "Yingolager" 
(Jingo  camp)  as  a  great  sensation,  with  cheap  advertise- 
ment. The  paper  makes  the  most  violent  accusations 
against  the  German  Embassy,  mainly  against  Count  Von 
BernstorfF,  Military  Attache  Captain  Von  Papen,  and 
Geheimrat  Albert,  who  are  said  to  have  conspired  secretly 
against  the  safety  of  the  United  States,  in  that  they  have 
bought  arms  and  munition  factories,  have  concluded 
bogus  contracts  for  delivery  with  France  and  Russia, 
have  purchased  large  quantities  of  explosive  materials, 
have  incited  strikes  in  the  munition  factories,  have  sought 
to  corrupt  the  press,  and  have  spread  far-reaching  agitation 
for  the  effecting  of  an  embargo  in  the  different  American 
circles.     The  other  important  New  York  papers  second 

103 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

the  World  although  with  less  violence,  for,  in  their  leading 
articles,  by  misrepresentation  of  the  facts,  they  accuse 
Germany  of  all  possible  and  impossible  machinations — 
for  instance,  they,  like  the  World,  bring  forward  the  asser- 
tion that  the  German  Government  wished  to  stop  the 
supply  of  ammunition  to  the  Allies,  while  itself  secretly 
sending  quantities  over. 

Count  Von  BernstorfFtook  the  view  that  these  calumnies 
were  beneath  reply,  and  by  a  happy  inspiration,  refused 
any  explanation.  He  is  in  no  way  compromised.  On 
the  contrary,  it  appears  from  the  published  correspondence 
of  various  press  agents  that  he  vetoed  the  purchase  of 
a  press  agency. 

On  the  other  hand,  Geheimrat  Albert  published  in 
the  newspapers  a  very  cleverly  worded  explanation, 
the  tenor  of  which  I  venture  to  submit  to  Your  Excellency 
in  an  enclosure.  It  is  especially  to  the  credit  of  the 
German  Embassy  that  on  July  15th  last  it  informed  the 
State  Department  officially  that  it  found  itself  compelled 
to  buy  as  many  materials  of  war  in  this  country  as  it 
possibly  could,  and  to  control  their  production,  with  the 
intention  of  preventing  their  being  supplied  to  the 
enemy.  These  materials,  it  stated,  were  at  any  time  at 
the  disposal  of  the  American  Government  at  favourable 
prices,  either  as  a  whole  or  in  parts,  and  of  course  this 
could  only  further  the  readiness  of  the  United  States  for 
taking  the  field  in  war. 

Here  the  absurd  accusations  of  the  conspiracy  collapse. 
Also,  with  regard  to  the  accusations  as  to  the  incitement 
of  strikes,  there  is  no  proof  of  the  empty  statements  made. 
Nevertheless,  everything  German  here  is  slandered  and 
run  down  with  emphasis  and  consistency.  An  impartial 
individual  can  hardly  escape  the  feeling  of  appreciation 
with  which  the  far-reaching  activity  of  Geheimrat  Albert 

104 


THE  ACTIVITIES  OF  JAMES  ARCHIBALD 

must   inspire   him.     But   there   are   very   few  impartial 
persons  in  New  York. 

The  torpedoing  of  the  Arahic,  in  the  event  of  its  having 
been  done  without  warning,  or  its  having  caused  American 
passengers  to  lose  their  lives,  will  do  more  than  any 
newspaper  accusations  to  prejudice  Germany  in  the  public 
opinion  of  the  United  States. 

The  Imperial  and  Royal  Ambassador, 

(Signed)  C.  Dumba. 

Archibald  carried  numerous  other  papers — 
for  the  Germans  as  well  as  for  the  Austrians. 
The  most  interesting  of  these  was  a  report 
from  Franz  von  Papen,  military  attache  of  the 
German  Embassy  upon  the  same  World  ex- 
posure. The  following  are  extracts  from  this 
dispatch: 

Military  Report 


On  July  31  important  papers  were  abstracted  from 
Herr  Geheimrat  Dr.  Albert  in  the  elevated  railway, 
apparently  by  an  individual  in  the  employ  of  the  English 
Secret  Service.  These  papers  were  sold  to  the  World  and 
formed  the  basis  of  the  revelations  (Enclosure  i)  which 
gave  to  the  New  York  press,  friendly  to  the  Allies,  a  wel- 
come opportunity  to  make  a  fresh  outburst  against  the 
Imperial  Government  and  the  Imperial  representatives 
in  this  country.     .     .     . 

Apart  from  political  results  the  consequences  of  the 
publications  for  us  show  themselves  in  connection  with 
business. 

los 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

Bridgeport  Projectile  Co. 

The  report  of  June  30  of  the  Treasurer  of  this  Company 
which  I  forwarded  to  the  Royal  Ministry  of  War  on  July 
I3>  J-  No.   1888,  was  among  the  stolen  papers. 

The  declaration,  published  in  the  papers,  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Aetna  Explosive  Co.  that  he  intended  to 
throw  up  powder  contracts  with  the  Bridgeport  Pro- 
jectile Co.  Is  of  course  only  newspaper  gossip  and  was 
already  much  weakened  yesterday  through  a  fresh  expla- 
nation by  the  firm  (Enclosure  V). 

In  connection  also  with  the  delivery  of  presses,  I 
do  not  believe  that  the  manufacturers  will  place  difficulties 
in  our  way  because  the  careful  drawing  up  of  the  contract 
excludes  all  attack  on  the  Projectile  Co.  under  the  well- 
known  Sherman  Law,  and  the  claim  that  the  manufacturers 
had  supposed  the  deliveries  to  be  Intended  for  the  Allies — 
in  other  words,  that  the  contracts  had  been  obtained  by 
us  under  false  representations — offers  a  legal  basis  too 
weak  to  enable  the  persons  who  undertake  delivery  to 
risk  the  expense  and  results  of  a  law^sult. 

The  only  actual  damage  consists  In  that  the  Russian 
and  English  committee  have  at  once  broken  off  their 
negotiations  with  the  Bridgeport  Projectile  Co.  and  that 
thus  our  plans  to  cut  off,  by  the  acceptance  and  non- 
delivery of  a  shrapnel  contract,  other  firms  here  from  the 
possibility  of  beginning  the  furnishing  of  war  material 
have  come  to  nothing. 

The  purchase  of  phenol  by  Dr.  Schweitzer  of  the 
Edison  Co.,  which  has  at  the  same  time  been  disclosed. 
Is  disposed  of  by  the  explanation  published  to  the  effect 
that  this  phenol  is  only  to  be  worked  up  Into  medicine. 

Most  of  all  have  our  efforts  for  the  purchase  of  liquid 
chlorine  been  interfered  with,  since  the  tying  up  through 
middlemen   of  the   Castner  Chemical   Company,   which 

106 


THE  ACTIVITIES  OF  JAMES  ARCHIBALD 

is  friendly  to   England,   appears  now  to  be  out  of  the 
question. 

I  shall  use  the  means  placed  at  my  disposal  (informa- 
tion of  Herr  Grothen)  for  the  purpose  of  arriving  at  an 
agreement  with  the  Electro  Bleaching  Company.  The 
published  negotiations  for  the  acquisition  of  the  Wright's 
patent  is  without  importance,  since  on  our  behalf  a  judical 
decision  against  the  Curtiss  Company  so  far  as  one  can 
see,  would  not  have  been  obtained. 

Part  of  the  significance  of  Von  Papen's 
dispatch  is  his  reference  to  the  Bridgeport 
Projectile  Company.  Other  documents  in  the 
possession  of  the  United  States  Government 
demonstrate  completely  the  ownership  of  this 
corporation  by  the  Teutonic  Allies.  Hans 
Tauscher,  the  agent  of  Krupps  and  other 
German  munition  factories  in  this  country, 
was  in  the  habit  of  reporting  direct  to  the 
War  Ministry  in  Berlin  as  if  he  were  its  repre- 
sentative in  this  country — as  indeed  he  was 
though  not  ostensibly  so.  Among  other  papers 
in  the  hands  of  the  Government  is  a  letter 
from  the  President  of  the  Bridgeport  Projectile 
Company,  informing  him  that  the  company 
is  being  reorganized  and  that  hereafter  Mr. 
Tauscher  will  hold  as  trustee  only  60  per  cent. 
of  the  capital  stock.  Naturally  Tauscher  was 
not  acting  as  trustee  for  anybody  but  his  em- 
ployers. 

Another  document,  of  Httle  importance,  is 
107 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

a  letter  Von  Papen  wrote  to  his  wife  and  sent 
by  Archibald.  But  two  parts  of  it  are  inter- 
esting. After  speaking  again  of  the  World  ex- 
posure he,  says: 

The  answer  of  Albert  I  am  sending  you  herewith  so 
you  can  see  how  we  defend  ourselves.  The  document  we 
drew  up  together  yesterday. 

But  the  bright  spot  for  the  Americans  whose 
hospitality  he  was  abusing  lies  in  this: 

How  splendid  in  the  East!  I  always  say  to  these 
idiotic  Yankees  that  they  should  shut  their  mouths  and 
better  still  be  full  of  admiration  for  all  that  heroism. 
My  friends  from  the  Army  are  In  this  respect  quite 
different. 

Papen's  *' friends  from  the  Army"  have,  with 
a  good  many  of  ** these  idiotic  Yankees,''  or- 
ganized an  army  and  are  looking  for  Captain 
Franz  again,  this  time  over  the  top  in  France, 
with  the  determination  to  settle  the  question 
with  his  government  on  the  battlefield. 


io8 


CHAPTER  VI 
A  Tale  Told  in  Telegrams 

ONE  day  in  October,  19 15,  a  good-looking 
young  fellow  wandered  into  the  office  of 
the  United  States  Attorney  at  Detroit  and 
inquired  if  the  office  was  making  any  investi- 
gations into  dynamite  cases.  His  inquiry  was 
odd  enough  of  itself,  but  coupled  with  his 
personal  appearance  and  his  entirely  unexpected 
arrival  on  the  scene,  it  was  doubly  mysterious. 
Lewis  J.  Smith,  as  his  name  turned  out  to  be, 
looked  like  a  handsome,  big,  farmer's  boy  who 
had  come  to  town  and  made  a  little  money. 
He  was  well  dressed  in  what  he  considered 
the  style,  and  in  conversation  developed  a 
winning  smile  and  a  very  engaging  and  con- 
vincing personality.  There  was  the  fresh  whole- 
someness  of  country  breeding  about  him  that 
comported  strangely  with  his  guarded  and 
mysterious  talk  of  dynamite.  The  United 
States  Attorney  thought  he  must  be  a  *' little 
off,"  but  referred  him  to  the  local  agent  of 
the  Department  of  Justice. 

To  this  agent  Smith  told  at  first  an  incoher- 
109 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

ent  story.  But  the  agent  was  tactful  and  sym- 
pathetic and  by  asking  a  question  now  and 
then  and  even  more  by  refraining  from  asking 
questions  at  embarrassing  moments,  he  drew 
out  from  Smith  most  of  the  details  of  one  of 
the  most  dangerous  German  plots,  incidentally 
exposing  the  organization  of  theGerman  spysys- 
tem  west  of  the   Mississippi   River. 

The  story  revealed  by  Smith  and  by  the 
corroborative  testimony  in  the  subsequent  in- 
vestigation was  this:  Consul-General  Bopp 
discovered  that  the  California  Powder  Mills 
at  Pinole,  across  the  bay  from  San  Francisco, 
was  manufacturing  powder  for  the  use  of 
the  Russians  on  the  Eastern  Front  in  Europe, 
and  that  this  powder  was  being  shipped  from 
Tacoma  and  Seattle  to  Vladivostok.  One 
particularly  large  shipment  was  under  way 
and  he  wanted  to  stop  it.  He  employed 
C.  C.  Crowley,  who  had  been  for  many  years 
head  detective  for  the  Southern  Pacific  Rail- 
road but  lately  discharged  for  grafting,  to 
undertake  this  job  along  with  several  others. 
Crowley  lived  in  the  Hotel  Gartland  in  San 
Francisco,  and  bought  his  cigars  at  a  little 
German  stand  across  the  street.  Through  this 
German,  who  was  also  patronized  by  Smith, 
Crowley  learned  that  Smith  had  been  employed 
recently   in   the   California   Powder   Mills   but 

no 


A  TALE  TOLD  IN  TELEGRAMS 

was  out  of  a  job.  Crowley  introduced  him- 
self to  Smith  and  first  gave  him  the  task  of 
going  back  to  the  mill  and  finding  out  exactly 
how  the  powder  for  Russia  was  being  routed. 
He  gave  Smith  several  hundred  dollars,  and 
the  next  day  Smith's  former  fellow  employees 
were  astonished  to  see  him  ride  up  to  the  works 
in  an  automobile,  completely  outfitted  in  new 
clothes  and  flourishing  a  roll  of  bills  big  enough 
to  make  them  gasp.  Smith  soon  found  how 
the  powder  was  packed  and  marked  and  also 
that  it  was  being  loaded  on  a  big  scow  and  would 
be  towed  by  sea  to  Tacoma  for  loading  there 
on  ships  for  Vladivostok. 

A  few  days  later  Crowley  told  Smith  to  go 
to  Tacoma  and  register  at  the  Donnelly  Hotel, 
and  that  he  would  join  him  there,  going  by 
another  train.  There  they  would  manufacture 
bombs  of  a  type  which  Smith  had  devised, 
and  Smith  was  to  place  these  bombs  on  the 
ships  that  would  carry  the  powder  to  Russia. 

Smith  took  his  wife  to  Tacoma.  They 
registered  at  the  Donnelly  Hotel,  but  as  they 
soon  discovered  they  would  have  to  spend 
some  time  in  the  city,  they  took  an  apartment. 
Smith  and  Crowley  were  constantly  meeting 
and  between  them  surveyed  all  the  shipping 
in  the  harbour  and  found  out  when  the  boats 
would  sail  and  what  they  were  carrying.     The 

III 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

barge  load  of  powder  from  California  was 
towed  into  the  harbour  while  they  were  there, 
and  anchored  in  midstream  to  await  the  Hght- 
ering  of  its  cargo  to  the  trans-Pacific  ships. 
These  ships  proved  to  be  the  Kifuku  Maru  and 
the  Shhisei  Maru  (Japanese),  the  Hazel  Dollar, 
an  American  boat  flying  the  British  flag,  and 
the  Talthyhius,  a  British  ship.  Smith  under- 
took to  place  bombs  on  all  of  them. 

What  Smith  actually  did  was  to  visit  small 
stores  in  Tacoma  and  near  Seattle  and  buy 
regular  commercial  40  per  cent,  dynamite  in 
sticks,  telling  the  storekeepers  that  he  was 
clearing  a  farm  and  wanted  the  dynamite  for 
use  in  blowing  up  stumps.  He  loaded  a  lot  of 
it  into  an  old  suitcase  and  left  Crowley  one 
afternoon,  telling  him  he  was  going  to  place 
this  on  one  of  the  ships  that  night.  Instead, 
he  went  out  into  the  woods  with  it,  cached  it 
under  a  log,  the  position  of  which  he  fixed  in 
memory  by  a  big  stump  and  a  tree  that  had  a 
big  rock  in  its  fork,  then  walked  on  down  to  the 
railroad  track,  carrying  his  suitcase,  and  later 
threw  the  suitcase  away  down  an  embankment. 
He  reported  to  Crowley  that  he  had  not  been 
able  to  get  anything  on  the  Kifuku  Maru, 
which  was  the  first  to  sail,  but  that  he  had 
"fixed''  the  Hazel  Dollar^  the  Shinsei  MarUy 
and  the  Talthybius, 

112 


A  TALE  TOLD  IN  TELEGRAMS 

Crowley,  in  the  meantime,  had  been  keeping 
in  touch  with  the  Germans  in  San  Francisco. 
It  had  been  arranged  that  all  dealings  with 
them  were  to  be  through  Von  Brincken. 
Crowley,  on  his  part,  kept  in  touch  with  his 
secretary,  Mrs.  Cornell,  she  communicating 
in  person,  or  by  telephone,  with  Von  Brincken, 
and  Von  Brincken  reporting  to  Bopp  and  get- 
ting further  orders. 

A  great  deal  of  the  story  from  this  point  on 
is  A  Tale  Told  in  Telegrams.  The  first  of 
these  telegrams,  which  figured  in  the  subsequent 
trial,  was  dated  Tacoma,  May  13,  191 5.  It 
was  addressed  to  Crowley  who  had  not  yet 
joined  Smith.     The  message  was: 

Fine  weather  Kaifuku  Box  244  five  days. 

S.  Hotel  Donnelly. 

This  message  was,  of  course,  from  Smith  and 
was  in  the  crude  code  that  had  been  agreed 
upon.  "Fine  weather"  meant  that  every- 
thing was  O.  K.  "Kaifuku"  gave  the  name 
of  the  ship  on  which  the  powder  would  probably 
be  carried.  "Box  244"  was  the  post-office 
address  through  which  Smith  could  be  reached, 
and  "five  days"  was  the  probable  sailing  date 
oi  the  Kifuku. 

It  so  happened,  however,  that  a  few  hours 
after   Smith   had   sent   this   telegram   Crowley 

113 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

arrived  in  Tacoma.  Crowley  was  always  full 
of  fear  that  he  would  be  detected,  and  he 
was  afraid  of  the  message  that  Smith  had  sent. 
He,  therefore,  immediately  telegraphed  to  Mrs. 
Cornell  to  go  to  the  Gartland  Hotel  in  San  Fran- 
cisco and  get  this  telegram,  and  telegraphed  also 
to  the  hotel  to  give  it  to  her  when  she  called. 

Between  one  and  two  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing of  Sunday,  May  30th  (Decoration  Day), 
everybody  in  Tacoma  and  Seattle  was  jarred 
from  his  slumbers  by  a  terrific  explosion  in 
the  harbour.  The  scow  load  of  powder  had 
disappeared  in  one  grand  flash,  crash,  and  cloud 
of  smoke,  carrying  with  it  the  night  watch- 
man who  had  been  living  on  it.  One  hundred 
thousand  dollars'  worth  of  plate  glass  in  Tacoma 
and  Seattle  w^as  destroyed  and  news  of  the 
explosion  was  telegraphed  to  the  papers  all 
over  the  country.  Crowley  had  got  the  main, 
part  of  his  job  done  in  one  quick  stroke. 

Here  was  good  news  for  the  Gerpians. 
Crowley  could  not  wait  for  the  mails  to  carry 
it,  so  the  next  day  he  sent  the  following  tele- 
gram to  Mrs.  Cornell: 

Work  has  been  good.  And  all  fixed.  No  connection 
with  the  big  Circus  it  was  an  accident  to  the  Elephant. 

% 

This  cryptic  message  meant: 
"Work  has  been  good  and  all  fixed,"  that  he 
114 


A  TALE  TOLD  IN  TELEGRAMS 

and  Smith  had  had  good  luck  in  their  plots 
against  the  ships  and  that  bombs  had  been 
placed  on  all  of  them.  '*No  connection  with 
the  big  Circus  it  was  an  accident  to  the  Ele- 
phant," the  "big  Circus"  was  the  four  ships 
for  Vladivostok  and  the  "Elephant"  was  the 
scow — in  other  words,  the  explosion  had  not 
interfered  with  their  work  against  the  ships. 

Before  Crowley  got  his  message  off,  however, 
Mrs.  Crowley  had  sent  one  to  him.  The  Ger- 
mans were  in  a  panic.  Von  Brincken  had  tele- 
phoned her  that  Bopp  had  word  that  Smith 
had  been  arrested  and  had  given  the  game  away, 
so  she  telegraphed: 

Von    learned    your    friend    told    all    before    leaving. 
Anxious.     Answer. 

M.  W.  C. 

To  this  Crowley  replied: 

Show  that  telegram  to  him  also  say  I  do  not  credit 
report  on  S.  he  made  good. 

c. 

"That  telegram"  meant  his  message  about 
the  circus.     To  this  Mrs.  Cornell  replied: 

Don't  understand  your  message.  Get  letter  Portland 
Post-office  on  arrival. 

M.  W.  C. 

Crowley,  she  knew,  was  leaving  immediately 
for  San  Francisco. 

115 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

There  were  some  grounds  for  the  Germans 
apprehension.  Smith  was  arrested  and  charged 
with  having  caused  the  explosion  on  the  scow. 
But  after  a  Httle  manceuvring  he  managed  to 
get  free  of  the  charge  and,  with  money  wired 
to  him  at  Tacoma  by  Crowley,  went  back  to 
San  Francisco  where  Crowley  paid  him  first 
jSjOO  and  then  $600  in  currency. 

The  Germans,  however,  had  been  pretty 
well  frightened  and  they  thought  it  was  about 
time  to  get  both  Smith  and  Crowley  away. 
Smith  and  his  wife  were  hustled  off  to  Sacra- 
mento where  they  lived  at  a  hotel  for  a  little 
while  and  then  Mrs.  Smith  was  sent  on  ahead 
to  New  York,  while  Crowley  and  Smith  arranged 
to  meet  in  Chicago  to  carry  out  a  new  plan 
that  the  Germans  had  devised. 

This  plot  was  to  use  Detroit  as  headquarters 
for  operations  in  Canada  and  there  to  blow 
up  the  stockyards  at  St.  Thomas,  Ontario,  and 
trains  carrying  horses  for  shipment  to  Europe. 
Crowley  and  Smith  got  together  in  Chicago 
and  visited  the  stockyards  to  spot  the  ship- 
ments of  horses  toward  the  Atlantic  seaboard. 
They  learned  that  a  good  many  of  these  ship- 
ments were  being  routed  through  Canada  by 
way  of  Detroit.  In  the  meantime,  however, 
the  Germans  in  San  Francisco  were  getting  rest- 
less.   They   had    expected    almost    every    day 

116 


A  TALE  TOLD  IN  TELEGRAMS 

that  the  ships  for  Vladivostok  would  be  re- 
ported blown  up  or  missing.  They  had  heard 
neither,  and  they  were  beginning  to  suspect 
that  they  had  been  deceived.  They  had  been 
deceived,  but  so  had  Crowley — and  this  ex- 
plains the  tenor  of  his  replies  in  the  Second 
Tale  Told  in  Telegrams.  The  first  intimation 
of  trouble  he  received  was  a  telegram  from 
Mrs.  Cornell  on  June  21st,  to  which  she  signed 
her  middle  initial : 

Saw  him  noon  gave  message.  He  was  astonished. 
Said  we'Il^  suspend  judgment  for  a  few  days.  Queer 
news  this  morning.  He  suspects  you  were  interested 
in  the  failure. 

W. 

'  Meantime,  Crowley  had  gone  on  to  Detroit 
and  this  message  was  wired  to  him  at  the 
Hotel  Statler  there.  His  reply  is  missing,  but 
he  evidently  expressed  astonishment  at  the 
message,  giving  some  instructions  for  his  office 
and  asking  for  more  particulars.  To  this  mes- 
sage Mrs.  Cornell  replied: 

Your  instructions  will  be  acted  upon.  Wired  you 
first  arrived. 

W. 

The  second  sentence  of  the  message  meant 
that  the  first  boat,  the  Shinsei  Maru,  had  ar- 
rived safely  at  Vladivostok,  despite  Crowley's 
previous  assurances  that  it  had  been  ''fixed." 

117 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

This  was  what  the  Germans  could  not  under- 
stand, and  what  had  aroused  their  suspicions 
that  Crowley  had  been  deceiving  them,  and 
that  he  had  possibly  even  been  in  somebody 
else's  pay  to  "double  cross"  them.  Their  sus- 
picions were  redoubled,  as  seems  natural  enough 
in  the  light  of  Mrs.  CornelFs  message  of  June 
29th  to  Crowley: 

All  three  arrived.  I  am  waiting  your  advice.  Some- 
thing queer. 

W. 

In  other  words,  the  other  two  boats,  the  Hazel 
Dollar  and  the  Talthybius,  had  safely  made 
Vladivostok. 

Meanwhile,  Crowley  had  been  having  other 
troubles  with  Smith.  One  day  he  called  for 
him  at  the  Briggs  Hotel  in  Chicago  and  found 
that  he  had  disappeared.  He  learned  that  he 
had  gone  on  to  New  York,  leaving  as  his  for- 
warding address  simply  *' Station  L,  General 
Delivery,  New  York."  Smith  had  two  causes 
for  anxiety.  In  the  first  place,  he  had  not  heard 
from  his  wife  and  did  not  know  whether  she 
had  arrived  safely.  Consequently,  on  June 
1 8th  he  had  telegraphed  to  a  friend  in  New 
York: 

Can  you  give  my  wife's  address.  Important.  An- 
swer paid, 

and  received  a  reply  the  same  day  giving  the 

118 


A  TALE  TOLD  IN  TELEGRAMS 

address.     He    left  Chicago   at  once   and   tele- 
graphed her  from  Buffalo  the  following  evening: 

On  train  36  Grand  Central  Depot  703  Sunday  morning. 

Lewis. 

On  Sunday  afternoon  Crowley  telegraphed 
him  from  Chicago : 

What  is  the  matter?  Was  surprised  when  found  you 
had  gone.     Send  me  some  word  to  Stratford  Hotel. 

c.  c.  c 

Smith  did  not  reply  until  four  days  later,  after 
he  had  learned  that  Crowley  had  gone  on  from 
Chicago  to  Detroit.     He  then  telegraphed  him: 

From  Tacoma  at  Chicago.  Address  308  East  Fiftieth 
St.,  New  York  City. 

S. 

To  Crowley  the  second  sentence  was  plain 
enough,  but  the  first  one  was  unintelligible, 
so  he  wired  Smith: 

Do  not  understand  message.  Let  me  know  if  you 
are  coming  here.     Important. 

C. 

Smith  did  not  dare  to  explain  by  telegraph 
what  the  matter  was,  but  he  had  become  con- 
vinced that  detectives  were  on  his  trail  and 
that  he  had  been  followed  all  the  way  from 
Tacoma  to  Chicago.  He  had  suddenly  de- 
cided to  give  them  the  slip  and  temporarily  to 
break     his     connection     with     Crowley     until 

119 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

Crowley  should  be  at  a  safer  place  for  him  to 
get  in  touch  with  him  again.  Also  he  wanted 
to  'Svork''  Crowley  for  some  more  money, 
consequently  his  reply  on  June  25th  was: 

Cannot   explain   by  wire.     Would   come   but  finances 
don't  permit.     Can't  find   wife.     Answer. 

S. 

The  latter  part  of  this  message  was  another  lie 

because  he  was  with  his  wife  at  the  time,  but 

it  served  to  excuse  his  absence  and  baited  the 

hook  for  more  money.     Crowley  promptly  bit 

and  replied: 

I   wired  vou  fifty  dollars.     Come  W.   U. 

C. 

Corroborating  this  message  was  a  service 
message  of  the  Western  Union  operator  to 
their  New  York  Office  at  24  Walker  Street: 

Send  notice  to  L.  J.  Smith,  308  East  50  St.  Report 
delay  of  transfer  payable  at  Grand  Central  Terminal. 

M.  T.  A. 

This  telegram  authorized  the  payment  of  $50. 

At  the  same  time  Crowley  undertook  to 
satisfy  his  German  employers  and  to  divert 
their  minds  from  their  previous  disappointment 
by  promising  them  some  results  on  the  new 
venture.  He  telegraphed  Mrs.  Cornell  on 
June  25th: 

Tell  him  I  expect  S.  by  Sunday  then  action. 


120 


A  TALE  TOLD  IN  TELEGRAMS 

The  "'him"  was  Von  Brincken  and  the  "S" 
was,  of  course,  Smith.  The  promised  "action" 
was  action  in  the  plot  to  dynamite  the  cattle 
trains  at  St.  Thomas,  Ontario.  The  next  day 
Smith  was  on  his  way  to  Detroit,  sending  a 
message  on  the  train  to  his  wife  to  let  her  know 
he  was  all  right : 

Arrived  at  Toledo  O.  K. 

L. 

Smith  met  Crowley  in  Detroit  the  following 
day  and  Crowley  immediately  telegraphed  Mrs. 
Cornell  further  reassuring  news  for  his  German 
friends : 

He  arrived  and  will  be  in  action  In  day  or  two.  Weather 
cool.  All  O.  K.  Give  all  clippings  to  him  let  me  know 
if  any  word  from  Hazel  and  friend.      Let  him  know  of  S. 

c. 

This  message  meant  that  Smith  had  arrived 
and  would  dynamite  the  stockyards  in  a  day 
or  two,  that  there  was  nothing  exciting  to 
report,  and  everything  was  going  well.  The 
** action"  referred  to  was  the  blowing  up  of  the 
cattle  trains  and  the  St.  Clair  Tunnel  at  Port 
Huron.  The  "clippings"  were  newspaper  re- 
ports of  the  explosion  on  the  scow  at  Tacoma 
which  he  wanted  Mrs.  Cornell  to  give  to 
"him"  that  is  to  Von  Brincken.  "Let  him 
know  of  S"  meant:  "Tell  Von  Brincken  that 

121 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

Smith  IS  here."  **Let  me  know  if  any  word 
from  Hazel  and  friend,"  meant  that  Crowley 
had  not  given  up  hope  that  there  was  a  mistake 
about  the  ships  having  made  Vhidivostok  in 
safety  and  that  he  expected  still  to  hear  that 
Hazel  (that  is  the  Hazel  Dollar)  and  ''friend" 
(Talthybius)had  been  destroyed. 

The  promised  '' action"  was  now,  so  Crowley 
thought,  about  to  be  produced.  He  was  going 
to  take  Smith  into  Canada  and  cause  some 
explosions.  Consequently  he  telegraphed  Mrs. 
Cornell  on  June  29th: 

Night  letter  follows.  Go  to  Toronto  few  days.  Don't 
wire  until  Friday. 

c. 

This  announced  the  approaching  trip  for  action. 
Crowley's  scheme  for  ''action"  was  this: 
Smith  was  to  carry  a  suitcase  full  of  dynamite 
and  buy  a  ticket  to  St.  Thomas,  Ontario. 
Crowley  was  to  carry  a  suitcase  very  similar 
in  appearance,  containing  his  travelling  things, 
and  was  to  buy  a  through  ticket  to  Buffalo  which 
would  take  him  over  the  same  route  through 
Canada  that  Smith  was  to  travel.  This  plan 
was  actually  worked  out  with  one  exception. 
Smith  had  a  perfectly  good  imagination^ and 
a  perfectly  developed  yellow  streak  in  his 
courage.  He  still  wanted  the  $300  monthly 
he  was  making  and  was   determined  to  con- 

122 


A  TALE  TOLD  IN  TELEGRAMS 

tinue  getting  it,  but  he  had  no  relish  at  all  for 
the  pictures  conjured  in  his  mind  of  what 
would  happen  to  him  if  he  were  discovered  in 
Canada  with  a  suitcase  full  of  dynamite.  He 
showed  the  dynamite  packed  in  the  case  to 
Crowley.  Then  he  went  out  into  the  suburbs 
of  Detroit,  got  rid  of  the  dynamite  and,  from 
a  night  watchman  on  a  brick  building  in  course 
of  construction,  bought  a  half-dozen  bricks  with 
which  he  filled  the  suitcase.  This  Irishman  was 
afterward  discovered  and  readily  recalled  both 
Smith  and  the  circumstances,  as  he  had  been  both 
puzzledjand  amused  at  the  idea  of  anybody  buying 
bricks  when  he  could  easily  have  stolen  them. 

As  they  had  arranged.  Smith  boarded  the 
Michigan  Central  train  at  Detroit  late  Sunday 
afternoon  on  July  the  4th,  and  took  a  seat  in 
the  day  coach.  Crowley,  who  did  not  walk 
with  him  but  followed  close  behind,  took  the 
seat  behind  Smith.  Each,  of  course,  stowed 
his  suitcase  at  his  feet.  In  a  few  minutes 
Smith  walked  to  the  front  end  of  the  car  for  a 
drink  of  water,  whereupon  Crowley  stepped  out 
on  the  platform  at  the  rear.  Smith  came  back 
and  took  Crowley's  seat.  Crowley  returned 
and  took  Smith's  seat.  Shortly  after,  the  cus- 
toms inspector  came  through  the  train  with 
the  conductor.  His  presence  was  the  reason 
for  this  exchange  of  seats.     As  Crowley  had  a 

123 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

through  ticket  to  Buffalo  and  would  not  leave 
the  train,  the  customs  inspector  did  not  open 
his  suitcase  but  simply  pasted  on  it  the  through 
ticket  label  by  which  it  would  be  identified 
by  the  other  customs  inspector  who  would 
board  the  train  at  Niagara  Falls,  when  the  train 
was  about  to  reenter  the  United  States  at 
Buffalo.  Hence  the  suitcase  containing  the  sup- 
posed dynamite  was  not  opened,  and  this  was 
Crowley's  plan.  Crowley's  own  suitcase,  now 
in  the  seat  with  Smith,  was,  of  course,  opened 
and  examined.  But  it  contained  nothing  but 
Crowley's  personal  belongings.  An  hour  or  so 
later  the  stratagem  was  repeated  and  Smith  and 
Crowley  resumed  their  original  seats  and  got 
possession  of  their  original  baggage.  Smith 
dropped  off  the  train  at  St.  Thomas  at  about 
eleven  o'clock  that  night  and  Crowley  went  on 
through  to  Buffalo. 

Smith's  nerve  was  no  better  this  time  than 
it  had  been  before.  In  St.  Thomas  he  emptied 
the  bricks  out  of  his  suitcase,  bought  some 
travelling  things  to  replace  them,  and  took  the 
train  on  to  New  York.  In  the  meantime,  Crow- 
ley had  been  having  his  troubles  with  the 
anxious  and  irritated  Germans  in  San  Francisco. 
There  was  an  interchange  of  messages  based 
on  his  need  for  money  and  on  a  break  in  the 
chain  of  communication  between  him  and  Bopp. 

124 


A  TALE  TOLD  IN  TELEGRAMS 

Von  Brincken  had  been  made  very  unhappy 
by  Bopp,  as  the  latter  was  in  a  furious  rage 
over  the  failure  of  the  earher  plot  at  Tacoma, 
and  had  accused  Von  Brincken  of  everything 
from  embezzlement  to  treachery  and  had  made 
his  life  so  miserable  that  he  was  glad  of  an 
excuse  to  get  out  of  San  Francisco.  The  imme- 
diate occasion  he  made  for  his  leaving  was 
an  opportunity  he  had  to  go  to  Tia  Juana, 
Mexico,  just  across  the  border  from  California. 
As  both  Crowley  and  his  representative  Mrs. 
Cornell  had  been  positively  forbidden  to  com- 
municate with  Bopp,  Crowley  was  at  the  moment 
considerably  embarrassed  by  his  inability  to 
get  in  touch  with  headquarters.  This  explains 
the  meaning  of  Mrs.  Cornell's  message  of  July 
2d,  addressed  to  Crowley  at  Detroit: 

Am  trying  to  find  him.    Waited  to  hear  from  you. 

W. 

She  did  manage  to  reach  Von  Brincken  just 
before  he  left  for  Mexico  late  the  same  day, 
again  telegraphing  Crowley : 

He  said:  If  you  have  plans  go  ahead  with  them.     State 
amount  required.     Have  been  looking  for  results. 

W. 

Crowley  replied  the  next  morning: 

Tell  him  have  planned  action  for  within  a  week.     No 
doubt  able  to  make  showing.     Ans. 

C. 

125 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

His  reply,  however,  was  too  late.  Von  Brincken 
had  gone  to  Mexico,  hence  Mrs.  Cornell  tele- 
graphed: 

Cannot  get  in  touch  with  him.  Have  tried  everything. 
Wired  you  last  night  state  amount  required.  Advise 
me. 

w. 

To  this  message  Crowley  replied: 

Don't  worry.  Did  he  get  night  letter  thirtyth?  Go 
to  Buffalo  to-morrow  night.  Statler.  If  you  find  him 
wire  me.     Don't  send   money  until   decided. 

C. 

The  following  day  was  the  Sunday  on  which 
Crowley  and  Smith  left  Detroit  together.  Smith 
dropped  off  at  St.  Thomas  and  Crowley  pro- 
ceeded to  Buffalo.  The  following  evening  Crow- 
ley again  telegraphed  Mrs.  Cornell  from  Buffalo: 

Nothing  from  you.     Send  me  long  letter  to-night. 

C. 

Her  reply  was: 

Nothing  from  him  since  last  Wednesday  except  one 

phone  telling  you  state  amount.     BeHeve  he  is  fighting 

for  time.     Don't  commit  yourself  he  has  no  authority. 

Told  me  he  expected  to  take  another  position  in  a  month 

as  the  atmosphere  was  intolerable.     I  gave  up  apartment 

Saturday  morning.     Will  wire. 

W. 

Mrs.    Cornell  had    been    unable    to    reach 

Von  Brincken  for  the  very  good  reason  that  he 

was  out  of  town.     Her  quotation  of  his  remark 

126 


A  TALE  TOLD  IN  TELEGRAMS 

that  he  "expected  to  take  another  position 
within  a  month"  referred  to  Von  Brincken's 
untenable  position  in  the  Consulate  in  San 
Francisco,  and  to  his  manoeuvres  to  get  himself 
transferred  to  the  New  York  end  of  the  German 
spy  system  with  his  friend  Von  Papen,  with  whom 
he  had  become  quite  chummy  on  a  recent  visit 
of  Von  Papen's  to  the  Pacific  Coast. 

Two  days  later,  however,  Von  Brincken  had 
come  back  to  San  Francisco  and  Mrs.  Cornell 
had  a  talk  with  him.  Following  this  talk  she 
telegraphed  to  Crowley,  who  was  now  in  New 
York,  stopping  at  the  Wallick  Hotel: 

Manager  informed  Bradford  that  experiences  made 
were  discouraging  that  outlook  of  lawsuit  was  too  poor 
to  justify  advances  for  appeal.  He  is  willing  to  offer 
lawyer  contingent  fee  depending  upon  success  only. 
Bradford  privately  advises  see  his  friend  in  New  York 

at  once.     Will   send   night  letter. 

W. 

In  this  message  Mrs.  Cornell  dropped  into  the 
code  they  had  agreed  to  use  before  Crowley 
left  San  Francisco.  ''Manager"  was  Bopp,  the 
head  German  in  San  Francisco.  "Bradford" 
was  Von  Brincken.  The ''  lawsuit "  was  the  plot. 
The  ''lawyer"  was  Smith.  "Bradford's  friend 
in  New  York"  was  Von  Papen. 

In  her  promised  night  letter  Mrs.  Cornell  said: 

I  asked  for  a  hundred.  They  refused  let  him  have  it. 
He  was  indignant  at  refusal  but  decided  it  would  be  best 

127 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

in  the  end  as  it  would  justify  your  seeing  other  party  who 

had  plenty.     He  hopes  to  work  with  you  soon.     Don't 

forget  to  boost  him.     He  looks  to  you  for  help.     I  have 

not  selected  a  home  yet. 

W. 

The  latter  part  of  this  message  urges  Crowley 
to  recommend  Von  Brincken  very  strongly  to 
Von  Papen  when  he  sees  him  in  New  York 
so  that  Von  Papen  will  be  sure  to  transfer 
Von  Brincken  to  the  eastern  territory  so  he  can 
get  away  from  Bopp.  The  next  day  Crowley 
telegraphed  Mrs.  Cornell  from  New  York: 

Appointment  for  to-morrow.     Outlook  not  good.    Will 

wire.     Tell  him  I  expect  them  to  settle  for  all  up  to  time 

of  return  or  commencement  here. 

C. 

The  appointment,  of  course,  was  with  Von 
Papen,  but  Crowley  was  not  very  happy  about 
It  as  he  seemed  to  have  been  failing  right  along 
to  get  anywhere,  and  he  had  now  been  so  much 
criticized  from  San  Francisco  that  he  became 
fearful  that  Bopp  would  shut  down  on  his 
money.  Mrs.  Cornell  now  gave  up  hope  of  get- 
ting action.     On  July  loth  she  telegraphed  him: 

Wasting  time  trying  get  them  through  me.  Communi- 
cate direct.  He  knows  I  want  him  but  won*t  see  me. 
Moved   305   A   Steiner   with   Alice   few   days. 

M.  W.  C. 

Crowley  in  desperation  telegraphed  for  money 
from  his  personal  bank  account  and  got  back 

128 


A  TALE  TOLD  IN  TELEGRAMS 

a  telegraphic  order  from  Mrs.  Cornell  for  $125. 
He  divided  with  Smith  and  then  bought  a 
ticket  for  San  Francisco  so  that  he  could  deal 
direct  with  Bopp.  Following  Von  :Brincken's 
suggestion  he  told  Smith  when  he  left  to  go 
and  see  Von  Papen,  and  get  the  rest  of  his  money 
from  him.  Smith  went  to  the  German  Club, 
on  Central  Park  South,  and  sent  up  a  message 
to  Von  Papen  to  which  he  got  the  curt  reply- 
that  Von  Papen  did  not  want  to  see  anybody 
from  San  Francisco.  He  had  not  yet  been 
informed  by  Von  Brincken  that  Smith  was  a  man 
he  could  use. 

Smith  was  now  very  angry,  and  casting  all 
discretion  to  the  winds,  telegraphed  openly  and 
directly  to  the  German  Consulate  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, addressing  the  message  to  Von  Shack 
on  the  theory  that  having  exhausted  all  ap- 
proaches to  Bopp  and  Von  Brincken  he  would 
go  after  the  one  man  who  still  might  be  reached: 

Why  dont  you  answer? 

Smith. 

Three  days  later  Smith  telegraphed  to  Crow- 
ley who,  he  knew,  would  now  be  in  San  Francisco: 

Please  advise  office  that  I  request  immediate  reply- 
also  transportation  back  to  Frisco.  I  resist  (resent) 
the  treatment   I   have  lately  received   for  my   faithful 

service.    Answer, 

L.  J.  Smith. 

129 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

A  few  days  later,  telegraphing  from  an  office 
on  the  Exposition  Grounds,  in  San  Francisco, 
Crowley  sent  a  message  to  Smith  in  New  York: 

Two  hundred  to-morrow  one  hundred  Tuesday  both 

Postal.     Come. 

C. 

Crowley  had  now  managed  to  restore  some 
degree  of  confidence  in  his  work  and  Smith's, 
and  had  adopted  his  favourite  method  of  divert- 
ing attention  from  past  failures  by  setting  forth 
a  glowing  prospectus  of  a  new  scheme.  For 
a  third  time  the  Germans  ''bit."  In  his 
eagerness  Crowley  thereupon  sent  a  rush  mes- 
sage to  Smith: 

Come  to  San  Francisco  at  once. 

c. 

Smith  promptly  replied: 
Enroute  to-night. 

s. 

He  arrived  in  San  Francisco  six  days  later, 
telephoned  to  Crowley  at  the  Gartland  Hotel, 
and  Crowley  in  turn  telephoned  to  Bopp  that 
Smith  was  on  hand.  That  evening  Crowley 
and  Smith  got  together  in  Crowley's  room  and 
made  out  a  statement  of  Smith's  expenses. 
This  statement  was  a  work  of  art.  At  Crow- 
ley's suggestion  Smith  carefully  ''padded"  the 
account  so  that  they  both  made  a  handsome 
profit  on  that  besides  their  salaries.     They  met 

130 


A  TALE  TOLD  IN  TELEGRAMS 

Bopp  in  the  Palace  Hotel  the  following  morning 
and  he  there  paid  the  amount  of  the  expense 
account,  ^845,  in  bills. 

Bopp  and  Crowley  told  Smith  that  they 
would  probably  have  more  work  for  him  to  do 
and  for  him  to  go  back  East.  He  left  San 
Francisco  on  July  28th,  telegraphing  when  he 
started  to  his  wife  at  Cedarhurst,  L.  L: 

Remain  one  more  week  then  meet  me  at  Detroit. 
Answer  at  once. 

L.  Occidental  Hotel. 

She  replied  that  she  would  meet  him  as  directed. 
Smith  went  on  to  Detroit  and  stopped  first 
at  the  Normandie  Hotel  and  then  moved  out  to  a 
boarding  house. 

In  a  couple  of  weeks  Crowley  had  got  fur- 
ther orders  from  Bopp  and  wrote  a  letter  to 
Smith  in  Detroit,  saying  that  Bopp  would  give 
$500  apiece  for  blowing  up  the  powder  works 
outside  Gary,  Ind.,  and  Ishpeming,  Mich., 
besides  paying  his  salary  of  ^300  a  month  and 
expenses.  Before  Smith  had  time  to  get  the 
letter  he  got  another  telegram  from  Crowley: 

The  matter  in  my  letter  is  off.     Write  me  letter 

C. 

What  had  happened  was:  Bopp  had  decided 
that  Smith  could  get  better  results  by  working 
in  California  where  he  was  more  familiar  with 

131 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

the  powder  plants  and  where  he  would  be  more 
closely  under  his  direction  and  not  under  Von 
Papen's  direction.  After  a  discussion  with 
Crowley,  Bopp  had  agreed  to  a  plan  to  have 
Smith  return  to  California  and  get  a  job  again 
in  the  California  Powder  Mills  at  Pinole,  now 
owned  by  the  Hercules  Powder  Company,  and 
cause  an  explosion  there.  Following  this  agree- 
ment Crowley  telegraphed  Smith  on  August  30th : 

Delay  in  information  you  want  also  in  getting  Consent 
on  other  matter  will  know  in  few  days  and  will  advise 
you.  Will  recommend  if  you  can  get  good  title  to  place 
here  and  the  one  north  you  be  given  an  amount.  Round 
trip  transportation  be  furnished  no  other  expense  allowed. 

Garrett. 

Crowley  had  used  the  name  of  Garrett  several 
times  and  often  received  mail  under  this  name 
at  his  hotel  in  San  Francisco. '  The  meat  of 
this  message  was:  "if  you  can,  get  good  title  to 
the  one  here"  and  ''the  one  north."  The 
"place  here"  was  the  California  Powder  Mills, 
and  "the  one  north"  was  a  powder  mill  of  the 
/Etna  Explosive  Company  outside  Tacoma  with 
which  Smith  was  familiar  as  a  result  of  his 
trip  there  at  the  time  of  the  explosion  on  the 
scow. 
On  September  7th  Crowley  telegraphed  Smith: 

They  cannot  decide  on  matter. 


132 


A  TALE  TOLD  IN  TELEGRAMS 

Smith  waited  a  week  for  a  decision  and  then 
wired  Von  Shack  again: 

I  expect  immediate  and  satisfactory  answer  from  you. 
Crowley  has  my  letter. 

L.  J.  Smith. 

The  satisfactory  answer  did  not  come.  The 
Germans  in  San  Francisco  had  spent  all  they 
were  willing  to  spend  without  getting  any  re- 
sult. Smith  got  a  job  in  an  automobile  fac- 
tory in  Detroit,  and  his  wife  returned  to  her 
vocation  as  a  masseuse  in  a  Turkish  bath. 
Pretty  soon  they  both  began  to  "see  things" — 
Mrs.  Smith  in  particular.  First  she  thought 
she  saw  Crowley  following  her  in  disguise  on 
the  street  one  night.  Smith  began  to  suspect 
also  that  they  were  being  trailed  by  detectives 
in  the  employ  of  the  Germans,  and  finally  he 
feared  both  bodily  harm  and  violence,  and  the 
possibility  of  the  American  Government  hav- 
ing gotten  wind  of  some  of  his  activities  and 
dogging  his  steps  to  arrest  him.  He  finally 
decided  that  the  safe  thing  to  do  was  to  turn 
State's  evidence,  and  hence  he  wandered  into 
the  office  of  the  United  States  Attorney  and 
started  various  trains  of  investigation  that  ulti- 
mately sent  Bopp,  Crowley,  Von  Brincken,  and 
Von  Shack  to  two  years  in  prison,  and  Mrs. 
Cornell  to  one  year.  Smith  and  his  wife  were 
given  immunity  for  turning  State's  evidence. 

133 


CHAPTER  VII 

German  Codes  and  Ciphers 

SECRECY  is,  of  course,  the  most  important 
consideration  in  the  German  plots  in  this 
country.  When  Bernstorff  wished  to  arrange 
with  Berhn  to  give  Bolo  Pasha  ten  milHon  francs 
to  betray  his  country,  he  naturally  did  not  write 
out  his  messages  in  plain  English  for  every  wire- 
less station  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  to 
read  them  as  they  went  through  the  air.  He 
did,  to  be  sure,  write  the  messages  in  English, 
and  they  looked  plain  enough — and  innocent 
enough — but  they  meant  something  very  dif- 
ferent from  what  they  seemed  to  mean.  And 
when  it  got  down  to  the  actual  transfer  of  the 
money,  another  German  agent  in  New  York 
signed  the  messages,  which  likewise  were  not 
what  they  seemed. 

Those  messages  were  in  code.  (They  are 
reproduced  and  explained  in  this  chapter.) 

Now  code  should  not  be  confused  with  cipher. 
When  some  Hindus  in  New  York,  subsidized 
by  Berlin,  wished  to  write  their  plans  to  some 
other  Hindus  in  San  Francisco,  concerning  their 

134 


GERMAN  CODES  AND  CIPHERS 

common  purpose  of  fomenting  revolution  against 
British  rule  in  India,  they  wrote  out  messages 
that  consisted  entirely  of  groups  of  Arabic 
numerals. 

Those  messages  were  in  cipher. 

To  any  one  but  an  expert,  many  code  mes- 
sages look  simple  and  harmless,  and  cipher 
messages  usually  look  unintelligible  and  sus- 
picious. Yet,  oddly  enough,  the  cipher  mes- 
sages are  by  far  the  easier  to  make  out.  In- 
deed, unless  you  have  a  copy  of  the  code,  code 
messages  can  almost  never  be  translated,  whereas 
a  straight  cipher  message  can  almost  invariably 
be  unraveled  by  an  expert,  if  you  give  him 
enough  time  and  material.  Hence,  by  people 
who  know  the  subject  (and  nobody  had  mastered 
it  so  thoroughly  as  the  Germans),  codes  are 
used  for  secrecy,  and  ciphers  are  used  simply 
as  an  added  precaution  and  to  delay  the  un- 
raveling of  a  message  if,  by  any  chance,  the 
enemy^has  gotten  possession  of  a  copy  of  the  code. 

German  plot  messages,  therefore,  are  usually 
written  out  first  in  plain  German,  then  coded, 
and  the  code  then  put  into  cipher.  Such  messages 
are  called  enciphered  code. 

For  an  enemy  to  get  them  to  make  sense, 
he  has  first  to  decipher  them,  and  then  decode 
them.  Any  expert  can  decipher  them — in  time. 
Decoding  them  is  a  very  different  matter. 

135 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

Before  taking  up  some  of  the  German  code 
and  cipher  messages  that  have  been  translated, 
with  dramatic  results,  it  will  be  well  to  discuss 
codes  and  ciphers  in  general. 

A  code  is  an  arrangement  by  which  two 
people  agree,  when  exchanging  messages,  always 
to  substitute  certain  words  or  symbols  for  the 
real  words  of  the  message.  Thus,  they  might 
agree  on  these  substitutions: 

a  =  the 
French  ship  =  market 
sailed  from  New  York  =  price 
sailed  from  Boston  =  quotation 
to-day  =  is 
for  Marseilles  =  any  even  number 
for  Bordeaux  =  any  number  with  a  fraction 

With  such  a  code,  a  German  spy  in  New  York 
could  cable  a  seemingly  harmless  message  to  a 
friend  in  Holland,  such  as: 

*'The  market  price  is   no." 

That  would  mean,  of  course: 

"A  French  ship  sailed  from  New  York  to-day  for 
Marseilles." 

Whereas  a  very  slight  change  in  wording: 

**The  market  quotation  is  iiof." 

would  mean: 

"A  French  ship  sailed  from  Boston  to-day  for  Bor- 
deaux." 

136 


A 


GERMAN  CODES  AND  CIPHERS 

Messages  of  that  sort  could  be  exchanged 
daily  between  a  broker  in  Wall  Street  and  a 
broker  in  Amsterdam,  and,  by  the  addition  of 
a  few  more  words,  could  be  infinitely  varied 


J,  Sr,  307/W 


Ue'w  York,  d^n  10,  April  I«Ift. 


4261  4690  435&  90972  91650  4165  4311  2022  98500  ZiSt 
91692  rait  <l0r  13C7  C122  8778  0266  8102  7004  7350  3734.  1S9Z 
6060  2646  91778  90210.  Eb  i»Xracehortani»t  gobeten,  flemgtmKBe  zu 
Tcrfahren  und  den  Bctrag  der  Ii-lteBr^chrlchte^Btelle  zu  bel»8- 
ton;  '^Bpfonfisbecchelnle^ns  llegt  em. 

8.  «.  Zt. 

den  Xaleerlichen  Cotschftftor 

Hfirrn  Crftfen  von  Borniiorff 

Washington*  P.  C. 


Herr^  John  Devoy/hat  hler . $600  elpcerahlt/mit  der  Bltta 
//x>-  i'77/"  ^>/r  i>it.:jm¥  j^m  ajj^  jTjJ-  ni>,    ^y*^^  ^7/  7*1/*. 

8le  telegraphlsch  an  Sir.  Roger  Ca««mant  zu  Uber^elsen.     Es  »flrd 

gehorsamaf  cebeten,  demgemSaa  zn  vecfahren  uni  den  Detrng  der 

g 
Srie^sjaachrichtenslelle  zu  beiasten.  Empgwsbesche immune  ll.e£t 

«ln« 


CODE  MESSAGE  TRANSMITTING  MONEY  TO  SIR  ROGER  CASEMENT 
In  English  it  reads:  "Embassy.  307-16,  New  York,  April  10,1916. 
Mr,  John  Devoy  has  paid  in  $500  here  with  the  request  that  they  be 
transmitted  telegraphically  to  Sir  Roger  Casement.  You  are  respect- 
fully requested  to  proceed  accordingly  and  to  charge  the  amount  to  the 
Military  Information  Bureau.     Receipt  enclosed." 


137 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

and  would  look  like  perfectly  legitimate  com- 
mercial correspondence.  In  fact,  most  inter- 
national business  before  the  war  (the  Govern- 
ment now  requires  that  all  messages  appear 
in  plain  English)  was  carried  on  by  coded 
cables  which  turned  long  messages  into  short 
groups  of  words  that  of  themselves  made 
gibberish.  Several  code  books  for  business 
use  were  on  the  market,  containing  hundreds 
of  pages  of  these  arbitrary  substitutions,  which 
were  useful,  not  for  secrecy  but  for  economy. 
A  dozen  words  could  be  made  to  say  what 
normally  would  require  five  hundred  words. 

Ciphers,  however,  have  almost  always  been 
resorted  to  when  secrecy  was  desired.  This 
sounds  like  a  contradiction.  But  people  who 
are  not  experts  use  them  because  they  think 
they  are  more  secret,  since  they  look  so.  And 
experts  use  them  when  they  are  concerned 
only  with  temporary  secrecy.  They  use  them, 
then,  because  cipher  messages  can  be  written 
and  translated  (by  one's  correspondent)  with- 
out any  equipment,  like  a  code  book,  and  much 
more  rapidly  than  code.  Thus,  if  a  general 
in  the  field  wishes  to  send  a  message  ordering 
a  colonel  to  advance  in  two  hours,  he  sends  it 
in  cipher,  because  it  would  take  the  enemy  more 
than  two  hours  to  decipher  the  message  even  if 
he  intercepted  it  immediately,  and  because  after 

138 


GERMAN  CODES  AND  CIPHERS 

the  two  hours  have  elapsed  the  information  in 
the  message  would  be  of  no  value  to  him. 

A  cipher  is  the  substitution  of  some  symbol 
for  a  letter  of  the  alphabet.  The  substituted 
symbol  may  be  another  letter — as  writing  e 
when  you  mean  a.  Or  it  may  be  a  figure — 
as  using  42  when  you  mean  m.  Or  it  may  be 
an  arbitrary  sign — as  *  to  mean  c.  In  cipher, 
then,  every  word  is  spelled  out,  but  the  word 
Washington  might  be  spelled  x  =  II  |  .M  a  :  °  B 
if  you  had  agreed  that 

w=x  n=!  ' 

a==  g=A 

s=  II  t=: 

h=J  0=° 

i=?  n  =  B 

That  is  called  a  substitution  cipher,  because 
some  other  letter  or  symbol  is  arbitrarily  sub- 
stituted for  every  letter. 

But  another  kind  is  called  a  transposition 
cipher,  because  in  this  the  letters  of  the  alphabet 
are  simply  transposed  by  agreement — the 
simplest  and  most  obvious  example  being  to 
reverse  the  alphabet,  so  that  z  stands  for  a 
and  3;  for  b,  etc.  Such  a  transposition  cipher 
would  read : 

Alphabet  of  plain  text   abcdefghljklmnopqrstuvwxyz 
Alphabet  of  cipher         zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcba 

139 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 


•TTins**  lhr««  •<••  •!  oiMa*— An*  for  safo  ^Trlttl,   •DOthor  f»T 
th»  rooKlMilty  af  4sXiy  •n^l  tho  thlM  to  "daiMt*  Ihit  Ma«tlln<  bad 
fon«  vTonc.     so,   aa  ws  have  rAol««i  nan*  1%  siust  ■••n  th«t  tho  party 

1b  unlor  raatraloV— prooably  Uald  In  LlT«rpoel  for  eziminatlan» 

Unleaa  thay  ooulA  (ot  tho  k«T  of  the  olphar.   It  la  unlUalj  ttit 

•*«D  an  axpart  ooul-l  loolphnr  tho  otoaaage  for  a  oonalOarabl*  tlaa, 

t»t  our  frionda  aro  xinawaro  of  th*  oontanta  •t  the  saesa^e.-    ttatf 

will  probably  jot  tho  Oupllotto  tr  Aprli  «,   an  tho  noeaongor  wha 

toot  It  baa  no»ar  toon  aoapeotol  and  la  net  a  paaeangor  .  Ro  la 

nover  eearohed  or  (jueetlonod.       He  vlll  oahfc-on  arrival. 

Another  Boesoncer  will  alart  noxt  siturday  and  will  ^atl«  on/ 
arrival, 

so  far,   the  ohlef  dlfflouity  lo  tho  failure  to  get  the  jrra- 
Tiealtlon  to  our  frlenla.     In  oaao     the  enesiy  hae  learned  or  aoa- 
pooto  the  jTo^oot  wo  Phall  probably  hawe  ntsaa  evldonae  In  tlna 
to  >«end  warning  to  your  peopla,   but  it  la  well  to  let  thes  )UM« 
that  this  hltoh  haa  oaourrod. 


h:;^  A^ 


A  letter  from  John  Devoy,  an  Irish-American,  exposing  his  hand  in  a 
plot  with  the  Germans  to  foment  revolution  in  Ireland 

and  Washington  would  be  spelled  dzhsrmtglm. 

Perhaps  the  cleverest  transposition  cipher 
ever  devised — It  is  so  good  that  the  British 
Army  uses  it  in  the  field  and,  moreover,  has 
published  text  books  about  it — is  the  very 
simple  "Playfair"  cipher.  First  a  square  is 
drawn,  divided  into  fifths  each  way.  This 
arrangement  gives  twenty-five  spaces,  to  con- 
tain the  letters  of  the  alphabet — /  and  /  being 

140 


GERMAN  CODES  AND  CIPHERS 


put  in  one  square  because  there  would  never 
be  any  plain  sentence  in  which  it  would  not  be 
quite  obvious  which  one  of  them  is  needed  to 
complete  a  word  of  which  the  other  letters  are 
known. 

Next  a  "key  word"  is  chosen — and  herein 
lie  the  cleverness  and  the  simplicity  of  this 
cipher,  because  every  time  the  key  word  is 
changed,  the  whole  pattern 
of  the  alphabet  is  changed. 
Suppose  the  key  word  -  is 
Gardenia.  It  is  now  spelled 
out  in  the  squares: 

The  second  A  is  left  out, 
as  there  must  not,  of  course, 
be  duplicates  on  the  key- 
board. Now  the  rest  of  the  alphabet  is  written 
into  the  squares  in  their  reg- 
ular sequence: 

That  is  the  complete  key- 
board. The  method  for  us- 
ing it  is  this : 

The  message  is  written 
out  in  plain  text;  for  exam- 
ple: 

DESTROY  BRIDGE  AT  ONCE 

(Only  capital  letters  are  commonly  used  in 
cipher  work.)     This   message   is   now   divided 

141 


G 

A 

R 

D 

E 

N 

IJ 

G 

A 

R 

D 

E 

N 

IJ 

B 

C 

F 

H 

K 

L 

M 

0 

P 

Q 

S 

T 

U 

v 

W 

X 

Y 

Z 

FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

into  groups  of  two  letters,  in  the  same  order,  so 
that  it  reads: 

DE  ST  RO  YB  RI  DG  EA  TO  NC  EX 

(The  X  is  added  to  complete  the  group  and  is 
called  a  null.)  These  groups  of  twos  are  now 
ciphered  from  the  keyboard  into  other  groups 
of  twos,  by  the  following  method : 

Where  two  joined  letters  of  the  original  mes- 
sage appear  in  the  same  horizontal  row  on  the 
keyboard,  the  next  letter  to  the  right  is  sub- 
stituted for  each.  Thus,  the  first  two  letters 
of  our  message  are  DE.  They  occur  in  the 
same  horizontal  row  on  our  keyboard.  Con- 
sequently, for  D  we  write  E,  and  for  E  we  go 
*'on  around  the  world"  to  the  right,  or  back 
to  the  other  end  of  the  row,  and  write  G  for 
E.    This  gives  us  DE  enciphered  as  EG. 

Where  two  joined  letters  of  the  original 
message  appear  in  the  same  vertical  row  on  the 
keyboard,  the  next  letter  below  is  substituted 
for  each. 

Where  two  joined  letters  of  the  original 
message  appear  neither  in  the  same  horizontal 
nor  the  same  vertical  row  on  the  keyboard, 
we  imagine  a  rectangle  with  the  two  letters 
at  the  opposite  corners,  and  in  each  case  sub- 
stitute the  letter  found  on  the  keyboard  at 
the  other  corner  of  the  same  horizontal  row. 

142 


GERMAN  CODES  AND  CIPHERS 

This  looks  complicated,  but  in  reality  is  very 
simple.  For  example,  take  the  third  two- 
letter  group  of  our  message — RO.  The  rec- 
tangle in  this  case  is 

RDE 
BCF 
LMO 

and  for  R  we  substitute  E,  and  for  O  we  sub- 
stitute L. 

Substituting  our  whole  message  by  this  system, 
it  reads : 

Original  DE  ST  RO  YB  RI  DG  EA  TO  NO  EX 
Cipher    EG  TU  EL  XC  AB  EA  GR  UM  IF  RZ 

As  telegraph  operators  are  accustomed  to 
send  these  gibberish  messages  in  groups  of 
five  letters  (so  that  they  can  check  errors, 
knowing  that  when  only  four  appear  in  a  group, 
for  example,  something  has  been  left  out)  these 
enciphered  groups  of  twos  are  now  combined 
into  groups  of  fives,  so  that  the  finished  cipher 
reads : 

EGTUE  LXCAB  EAGRU  MIFRZ 

The  foregoing  looks  extremely  compli- 
cated, but  the  truth  is  that  anybody,  after  half 
an  hour's  practice,  can  put  a  message  into  this 
kind  of  cipher  ("Playfair"  cipher)  almost  as 
fast  as  he  can  print  the  straight  English  of  it  in 
capital  letters.    And  unless  the  person  who  reads 

143 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 


it  knows  the  key  word  which  determined  the 
pattern  on  his  keyboard,  he  would  have  to  be  an 
expert  to  decipher  it,  and  even  he  could  do  it 
only  after  a  good  deal  of  work. 

Another  ingenious  cipher  is  called  the  "Chess 
Board."  First,  a  sheet  of  paper  is  ruled  into 
squares  exactly  like  a  chess  board — that  is,  a 
square  divided  into  eighths  each  way.  This 
arrangement  gives,  of  course,  sixty-four  small 
squares.  Then,  by  agreement  between  the 
people  who  intend  to  use  this  cipher,  sixteen  of 
these  squares  are  agreed  upon  and  are  cut  out 
of  the  sheet  with  a  knife.  Suppose,  for  example, 
this  pattern  is  chosen : 

and  the  squares  showing 
in  white  are  cut  out. 

Next,  another  sheet  of 
paper  is  ruled  into  a 
chess  board,  of  exactly 
the  same  size  as  the  first. 
The  perforated  sheet  is 
now  laid  on  top  of  the 
second  sheet,  so  that  the 
squares  on  the  one  exactly  cover  the  squares 
on  the  other.  Now,  with  a  pen  or  pencil, 
the  plain  text  of  the  secret  message  is  printed 
on  the  under  sheet  by  writing  through  the 
perforations  of  the  upper  sheet,  only  one  letter 
being  written  in  each  square.     This,  of  course, 

144 


nanan 

n 

nn 

nnHnaniin 

nnDHD 

■ 

HD 

■DHDD 

n 

■D 

naDHcnnn 

■nnnnnnB 

iBBBSB^ 


GERMAN  CODES  AND  CIPHERS 


permits  the  writing  of  sixteen  letters  of  the  mes- 
sage. 

Suppose    the    complete    message    is    to    be: 

"Authorize  payment  ten   million  dollars  to 

buy  copper  for  shipment  to  Germany."     Then 

the  lower  sheet,  after  we  have  written  through 

the  perforations,  will  look  like  this : 

The  perforated  sheet 
is  now  turned  to  the  right 
through  one  fourth  of  a 
complete  revolution,  so 
that  the  top  of  it  is  at 
the  right  side  of  the  lower 
sheet  and  so  that  the  two 
chess  boards  again 
"match  up."  This  op- 
eration exposes,  through  the  perforations,  a  new 
set  of  sixteen  open  squares  on  the  lower  sheet. 
The  writing  of  the  message  is  continued,  and  the 
lower  sheet  now  looks  like  this  (left) : 


A 

U 

T 

H 

O 

R 

I 

Z 

E 

P 

A 

Y 

M 

E 

N 

T 

A 

a 

U 

r 

> 

r 

T 

H 

H 

r 

o 

- 

R 

^ 

I 

Z 

2: 

HH 

E 

W 

p 

2 

A 

r 

Y 

1 

M 

E 

0 

[^ 

N 

O 

T 

S 

A 

a 

u 

r 

Pi 

^ 

>- 

> 

r 

T 

0 

H 

0 

^ 

H 

^ 

r 

Z 

0 

-- 

R 

z 

3 

I 

2 

z 

^ 

a 

•-H 

E 

R 

^ 

d 

^ 

p 

0 

0 

2 

3 

A 

(X 

A 

H 

n 

r 

< 

Y 

K 

M 

E 

9 

0 

0 

S 

Z 

7^ 

N 

0 

H 

X 

w 

S 

T 

145 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 


s 

A 

D 

U 

L 

R 

R 

Y 

A 

L 

T 

O 

H 

O 

F 

T 

R 

L 

N 

O 

I 

R 

N 

E 

I 

M 

Z 

N 

P 

I 

E 

E 

1 

P 

E 

P 

G 

O 

M 

C 

A 

P 

Y 

T 

U 

L 

A 

Y 

H 

M 

E 

B 

O 

O 

M 

N 

R 

N 

O 

T 

T 

E 

S 

X 

Again  the  perforated  sheet  is  turned  to  the  right, 
and  sixteen  more  letters  are  written.  Once 
more,  and  the  whole  sixty-four  squares  are  uti- 
lized, lookinglike  the  last  cut  on  the  previous  page. 
These  letters  are  now  put  upright,  like  this. 

They  are  now  read 
from  left  to  right  and 
from  the  first  line  down, 
like  ordinary  reading 
matter.  They  are  then 
grouped  into  fives  for 
telegraphic  transmis- 
sion, and  an  X  added  at 
the  end  to  make  an  even 
five-group  there.  Thus  the  message,  as  trans- 
mitted, reads: 

SADUL       RRYAL       TOHOF       TRLNO     IRNEI 
MZNPI       EEIPE        PGOMC      APYTU    LAYHM 
EBOOM      NRNOT      TESTX 

When  this  message  Is  received,  it  can,  of  course, 
be  quickly  deciphered  by  printing  it  out  on  a 
chess  board  and  placing  over  it  a  sheet  perfo- 
rated according  to  the  prearranged  pattern. 

This  survey  of  codes  and  ciphers  does  not  more 
than  scratch  the  surface  of  the  subject,  nor  more 
than  suggest  the  almost  infinite  variations  that 
are  possible — in  ciphers  especially.  It  simply 
gives  a  groundwork  for  an  understanding  of  the 
German  secret  messages  now  to  be  described. 

146 


GERMAN  CODES  AND  CIPHERS 


JSTSGXC^ 


CX\>  V  o  <..v"(-« 


^i;^,)CiH  )v.m£        Ml(\B.E\^VRA    ^i^ 


"^oj^ 


K.  u 


2:.\V^l      ft^lT.I 


EXTRACTS  FROM  A  GERMAN  CODE  EXPERT'S  BLOTTER 

Showing  the  use  of  capital  letters  in  the  actual  work  of  enciphering  a 

message,  and  the  combined  use  of  cipher  and  code 

Among  the  most  interesting  of  these  secret 
messages  is  the  series  of  wireless  telegrams 
by  means  of  which  the  German  money  was  paid 
to  Bolo  Pasha  for  the  purchase  of  the  Paris 
Journal — one  of  the  principal  episodes  in  the 
treasonable  intrigue  for  which  Bolo  was  recently 
executed  by  a  French  firing  squad.  These 
messages  were  in  English,  and  meant  exactly 
what  they  said,  except  for  the  proper  names  and 
the  figures,  which  were  code.  To  decode  them, 
it  was  necessary  only  to  make  the  following 
substitutions : 
William  Foxley  =  Foreign  Office 
Charles  Gledhill  =  Count  BernstorfF 
Fred  Hooven  =  Guaranty  Trust  Company  (New  York) 
$500=^500,000 

147 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

and  to  all  other  figures  add  three  ciphers  to 
arrive  at  the  real  amount.  For  example,  one 
of  these  messages  read:  **Paid  Charles  Gledhill 
five  hundred  dollars  through  Fred  Hooven." 
This  meant:  '*Paid  Count  Bernstorfif  five  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars  through  Guaranty  Trust 
Company." 


— ^*^  vi^>^^   ^ 


*«••-  /f'C 


BOLO'S  HANDWRITING 
A  letter  written  in  New  York  to  his  bankers  in  transactions  for  the  pur- 
chase of  the  Paris  Journal^  with  German  money,  the  crime  for  which  he 
was  shot 

148 


GERMAN  CODES  AND  CIPHERS 

The  story  of  these  messages  is  briefly  this: 
Marie  Paul  Bolo  started  Hfe  as  a  barber,  became 
an  adventurer  and,  in  the  service  of  the  Khedive 
of  Egypt,  received  the  title  of  Pasha  for  a  finan- 
cial service  which  he  rendered  him.  Returning 
to  France  as  Bolo  Pasha,  he  married  two  wealthy 
women  and  lived  in  grand  style  on  their  money. 
He  became  an  intimate  of  Charles  Humbert, 
another  adventurer,  who  achieved  political 
power  by  questionable  methods  and  became  a 
member  of  the  French  Senate.  In  the  mean- 
time, the  Khedive  had  been  deposed  by  the 
British  on  account  of  his  pro-Turkish  (and  hence 
pro-German)  activities  after  the  Great  War  be- 
gan. Abbas  Hilmi  joined  the  colony  of  ex- 
rulers  in  Switzerland,  and  there  became  a  part 
of  the  German  system  of  intrigue.  He  received 
money  from  the  Germans  and,  after  he  had  de- 
ducted his  "squeeze"  (which  sometimes  amount- 
ed to  half  the  total),  he  paid  over  the  rest  to 
Bolo,  to  be  used  by  Bolo,  Humbert,  and  ex- 
Premier  Caillaux  in  an  effort  to  restore  Caillaux 
to  power  and  then  to  further  the  propaganda 
for  an  early  and  hence  inconclusive  peace. 

Either  this  method  of  supplying  the  French 
traitors  with  funds  became  too  dangerous,  or  the 
Germans  preferred  to  keep  their  gold  and  wished 
to  use  their  credit  in  the  United  States  to  get 
American  gold  for  this  purpose.     In  any  event, 

149 


■  THELES3  ^jIA'SAYTIUa.' 
DsuUch*  B«nk  DUeV;tlon         «v«rlln 

CWttUnlc«t«  wlti.  «Ull^i-  -tAV'J  and  t«l»e'"»{*» 
^.ftlh^r  ho  has  rlr.Md  aioney  «t  o;  (lU|po«lC.^itt>  fny»  fo^ 

*^^  Chmrge   ;   John  H.'llcClenBnt 

Ikrch  6th,   1916. 


Wlrelea*  Ton  b«\it«ch»  Q*nk,  B«rlln, 

ing«k<ianon  4  tn  IS.  U«ert^916, 
Raplylng  jQur  cable  about %wli' fro i U\ ti^^toJ^"!  yw t u  ■  1 U 
fec«lT»  monay  for  our  account  you  nay  Jiipo^  according  3jr 
letters  Iloryaabcr  twntyfoorth  19\\  to'^5<4***^A«*4^<i 


TfTRSLESS  TiA.  SAniLLS. 

reeelved^id  Slitti  lOV  Qluaiijll 
lEWricii-'iwjiuu  .aiwaifin  rejClrea 


Ceutscha  Sank  Cirelctlon        Berlin 
.Your  wlreiesi  received 
flveh-andrad"/lollar»  throu| 
furthsr  eleven  hundred  do ll«ra  which  eh411-;pay  grftdwU^ 


a*»«»SL<Jobji  R,  JJtoMeiabnt 
'-(arch  15th,    1916. 


X 


Wireless  von  Oevt«ch«  BaNt». Berlin 


You  nay  disperse  or] 
sevonteenthousand  DoilkZe 


»rtiden  17."Miert  1918 


angeJc<nra>rt ,  den  17  .'1*«er  J 
on  OehftU^- 


A  TALE  TOLD  IN  CABLEGRAMS 
Code  messages  in  the  Bolo  Pasha  case,  explained  in  the  accompanying 

pages 


15° 


Deutsche  fanlc  Dlrelctlon 
. Berlin 


further:  twohunUrgd  Dollara 
^                                                                                  Huga  Schroidtr 
March   13,-  .1916 


y3^ 


glHELESS  VIA  SAYVriLE. 
Deutsche  iffank  nireTrtion         Berlin 

Palc^  .jwiiiiLj  oiUUPUil 'further  threehupdred- 


Qhargef-  -John-B,-.Ui>CIoineoi. 
Uarch  26th,  191S. 


■Rireless  Tie,  Sayville 


V  Deutsche  Bank  Dii-efctlon  A» 

'  Berlin  «-*•/     "^ 

rmflni  I — ; -~"  -"■-'■'  ->■-''   T  ji..-.^*   .»;,j  ^'  '      ' "  j 

i±- ItfSf    a-lw.illl  -furtheg  two!>unrlred  dollars 

JD/T^^     St^^CJj^  -?•"  <"»<»  Hu£S  Schnidfc- 

^  Ibrch  24,    1916 


WIRELESS- VIA  SAYVILLE. 


X 


Dettt»Ch9  Bank  Direkt lot.  Bsrlitt         „^_ 


ahalf  dollars  as  final  payment  stop  ^^11  jiliui'    iffnifif  f>yiii—< 
<i»e   *»i'iO  prinow  ««»»  imn    inpinnnr 

Rugo-SchoidV 

•Char'e:    'John  H.  MoClement- 

April  1st,  1916.       


/ 


iSi 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

Bolo  Pasha  appeared  in  New  York  early  in 
March,  1916.  Strangely  enough,  this  French 
citizen  bore  letters  of  introduction  to  several 
Germans.  The  most  important  was  addressed 
to  Adolf  Pavenstedt,  who  was  senior  partner  in 
G.  Amsinck  &  Company  and  for  many  years  a 
chief  paymaster  of  the  German  spy  system  in 
this  country.  Through  Pavenstedt,  Bolo  met 
Hugo  Schmidt,  a  director  of  the  Deutsche  Bank 
of  Berlin,  a  government  institution,  who  had 
been  sent  to  this  country  soon  after  the  war 
broke  out  to  provide  complete  cooperation  be- 
tween the  older  representatives  of  the  Deutsche 
Bank  here  and  the  management  in  Berlin. 

Through  Pavenstedt,  as  messenger,  Bolo  also 
got  in  touch  with  Bernstorff,  and  arranged  the 
details  of  the  plan  by  which  Bolo  was  to  receive 
10  million  francs  from  the  German  Government. 
He  was  to  use  this  money  to  buy  the  Paris  Jour- 
nal, which  would  then  be  edited  by  Senator 
Humbert,  who  agreed  to  change  its  editorial 
policy  to  favour  an  immediate  peace.  As  the 
Journal  is  one  of  the  most  powerful  dailies  in 
France,  with  a  circulation  among  more  than  a 
million  and  a  half  readers,  the  sinister  possibili- 
ties of  this  scheme  are  readily  seen. 

Bernstorff  committed  the  financial  details  to 
Hugo  Schmidt.  He,  in  turn,  asked  Berlin  by 
wireless  for  suitable  credits  in  American  bank- 

i;2 


MR.  A.  BRUCE  BIELASKl 
Who,  as  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Investigation  of  the   Department  of  Justice, 
organized   and  managed  the  Government  agents  who  unraveled   the  German 
plots  and  captured  the  plotters 


GERMAN  CODES  AND  CIPHERS 

ing  houses.  These  were  arranged  with  the 
Guaranty  Trust  Company  and  the  National 
Park  Bank — for  many  years  American  corres- 
pondents of  the  Deutsche  Bank.  The  amounts 
were  then  credited  to  G.  Amsinck  &  Company, 
of  which  Pavenstedt  had  long  been  senior  part- 
ner. He,  in  turn,  placed  them,  with  the  New 
York  branch  of  the  Royal  Bank  of  Canada,  to 
the  account  of  Bolo  Pasha.  As  the  exchange 
rate  at  the  time  ran  in  favour  of  American  dol- 
lars and  against  French  francs,  the  lo  million 
francs  (normally  equal  to  about  2  million  dol- 
lars) which  Bolo  got,  required  only  $1,683,500 
of  American  money — which  is  just  the  sum  of 
the  amounts  named  in  the  wireless  messages. 

The  Journal  was  actually  bought  by  Bolo  and 
Humbert,  but  before  they  could  do  much  damage 
with  it,  they  were  arrested,  and  Bolo  has  already 
been  executed. 

The  Hindus  in  this  country,  who  were  plot- 
ting with  the  Germans  the  revolution  that 
should  destroy  the  British  rule  in  India,  used 
two  systems  for  their  secret  messages.  The 
first  was  this  substitution  cipher : 


I 

2345 

6    7 

I  A 

B    C    D  E 

F    G 

2  H 

I    J  K  L 

M  N 

3O 

P   Q    R   S 

T   U 

4V 

W  X  Y  Z 

153 


J.  Mr,   356 Ae 


Bui'York,  dan  17«  April  1916, 


729C  1708  4098  5279  2810  m  90U6  fol£enil«r  B«in«i>kuaeMt 
"72f>4  4507  94076  4769  nur  2466  6061,  wnn  90967  93256 
0619  W.bi,   Antemfalls  46£i  93437  liSBtan(>«,  8122  9177S 
«0404,  Venn  ouch  «rat  C121  41&5  2£13  47(2.  Dashalb  4621 
4410  £3C7.  1975  BollU   beat«hen  cunMcrsi  4607  560S  0311 
2513  4507  03437  9G309  S215  0311  3925  593*  94077  7284, 
1777  w»nn  irft   rd  niis^lich   1-294  90C26  911S0  6071  4507 
•4076,  tvw.tueli  2*0C  2637  t471  90987  5608.  1974  wOrd* 
7706  ,:9d826  04077  4105  3000  93437  5995  6«3«,  BOwl*  0334 
6384  3433  90086  14-14  02C5  94077  o225,  0128  01809  6804 
61.  1  93437,  2C«4  l?iOC  7204  ;cAnn  dah«r  1863  61«1  2688,* 
2637  bittet  In  dlasem  Sinn*  6778  C121  92664  01778  llll* 

6132  6167  0250* 

An  5e.  Excellr.n* 

den  KaJoerlle  en  8olBC.  after 

H»rrp  G.  ai^.n  von  Bcr#»tonrf 

««fihlneton,"  0»  .C. 


THE  COHALAN-IRISH  REVOLUTION  MESSAGE 
Above  is  the  code  message  from  Von  Papen's  office  in  New  York 
to  BernstorfF,  transmitting  a  message  from  Justice  Cohalan,  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  New  York,  advising  the  Germans  upon  the  best 
means  to  make  Sir  Roger  Casement's  revolution  in  Ireland  a  success. 
On  page  155  is  the  message  written  out  and  coded  for  transmission.  In 
English  it  reads  as  follows:  "No.  335 — 16  very  secret  New  York,  April 
17,  1916.  Judge  Cohalan  requests  the  transmission  the  following 
remarks:  'The  Revolution  in  Ireland  can  only  be  successful  if  sup- 
ported from  Germany.  Otherwise,  England  will  be  able  to  suppress 
it,  even  though  it  be  only  .after  hard  struggles.    Therefore,  help  is 


154 


Rlohtor  Cohalai^/ersucht  ti 
.  >>.*/  yr/7  ?yojt  ^jl^ 
It«TOlntloa  In  Irland  Icaiui  our  erfolgrelob  ^eln,  «enn  «4»  Von' 


nebermlttlnog  folgender  Bemarlot&ngen: 

-UC  303/  fiffy 


'       Deataonland  aus  tmterstatzt 


'•'7 


,  Andemfalls  l^Englund  instande, 

//>»-    I'ljf  ■}'•/> V  i,i.t      f/SJ-  i-T/j       '/jii^ 

sl«  sa  untordraoken^  vonn  aueh  erst  nach  harten  E&apren. .  Deahalb 

let  Bllf»  notvendlg.  Dleee  a611t»  bestehen  soafichst  In  Luftangrlff en 
Vr«7  joyi-}    fitif     o^.r      ojn  ^f>j-  -^j^      Jvtyy         ;>^v^ 

la  Bnglaad  "oxA  PlottendlTarsloa  glelchzaitlg  Bit  Iriscber  Revolution 

Dann  wenn.  Irgend  «3gllch  Landung  Truppen  sat  WaTfen  Itaaltlon  In 

Zrlasdf  erentuell  elnlger  Offlzler  von  Zeppelins.  Dies  wOrde 
yji^    i»j>t,         ?y'77.'  v/or'   -^it^      fjfi7     •^'ff'^     ^^J^ 
'-(Schlleseung  Irlaoher  HSfea  gegen  l^ngland  nagllchnachen,  covjle 
oiAV    *3t^        -3^)*    <?e»^i    /•'i^i/ «iir  ^yi>77      •^♦S'f      «'»■»- 

AailagA  Stationen  fOr  Tauchbota  an  Irl sober  KOst^,  Absobntt^aqg 

2ufQhr  HshniQgsmittal  naeh  England,  < 

Sr  1>itt««  la  dias^  .SliiM7^eh.  Berlin  sa  berloht«B« 


^'grt9lgCev  RBTOlutipn  kann  daher  den  Krie^  entscheldea. 


e,i7    a-"^ 


necessary.  This  should  consist  primarily  of  aerial  'attacks  in  England 
and  a  diversion  of  the  fleet  simultaneously  with  Irish  revolution.  Then, 
if  possible,  a  landing  of !  troops,  arms,^,  and  ammunition  in  Ireland,  and 
possibly  some  officers  from  Zeppelins.  This  would  enable  the  Irish 
ports  to  be  closed  against  England  and  the  establishment  of  stations 
for  submarines  on  the  Irish  coast,  and  the  cutting  off  [of  the  supply 
of  food  for  England.  The  success  of  the  revolution  may  therefore 
decide  the  war.'  He  asks  that  a  telegram  to  this  effect  be  sent  to  Berlin. 
5132  8167  0230  To  His  Excellency  Count  von  Bernstorffy  Imperial  Ambas' 
sadofy  Washington,  D.  C." 


155 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

The  message,  "Leave  San  Francisco"  would  be 
written,  in  this  cipher,  as  follows: 

25  15  II  41  15  35  II  27  16  34  II  27  13  22  35  13  31 

by  giving  each  letter  of  the  message  the  number 
to  the,  left  of  it,  combined  with  the  number  above 
it. 

The  other  system  used  by  the  Hindus  was  a 
book  code.  They  agreed  upon  a  small  English 
dictionary  of  a  certain  edition,  and  wrote  from 
it  messages  that  were  also  groups  of  numbers, 
after  this  fashion:  625-2-1 1  27-1-36  45-2-20 
and  so  on.  The  first  figure  in  each  group  was 
the  number  of  the  page  on  which  the  word  would 
be  found,  the  second  figure  gave  the  column, 
and  the  third  figure  was  the  number  of  the  word 
in  the  column,  counting  from  the  top  of  the 
page. 

But  perhaps  the  most  dramatic  of  all  the 
intercepted  messages  (except  the  Luxburg  and 
Zimmerman  notes,  of  which  the  story  cannot 
yet  be  told)  were  those  which  revealed  the  part 
played  by  well-known  Irish-American  leaders 
in  the  ill-fated  Casement  revolution  in  Ireland. 
The  story  of  the  Casement  expedition  is  too 
familiar  to  need  to  be  retold.  And  comment 
upon  the  political  morals  of  Justice  Cohalan 
and  John  Devoy  becomes  superfluous  in  the 
light    of    these    messages.     American    citizens 

156 


GERMAN  CODES  AND  CIPHERS 

(one  of  them  signally  honoured  with  public 
office  in  New  York),  both  held  their  Irish  blood 
superior,  in  their  duty  of  loyalty,  to  the  United 
States,  using  their  citizenship  as  a  cloak  under 
which  to  strike  at  Great  Britain,  which  has  been 
for  a  quarter  century  the  chief  bulwark  of  this 
country  against  Germany's  plan  to  conquer  us 
and  to  impose  upon  our  country  the  most  hateful 
tyranny  in  the  history  of  the  world. 


157 


CHAPTER  VIII 

The  Tiger  of  Berlin' Meets  the  Wolf 
OF  Wall  Street 

FRANZ  VON  RINTELEN  was  the  German 
tiger  who  missed  his  spring.  He  was  the 
most  powerful,  the  most  dangerous,  agent  of  the 
Kaiser  in  the  United  States :  and  to-day  he  nurses 
his  hatred  of  us  behind  prison  bars.  But  He 
did  not  retire  to  confinement  until  after  our 
Government  completed  an  extremely  difficult 
and  tedious  investigation  that  was  made  nec- 
essary by  his  care  in  concealing  the  insidious 
work  of  propaganda  and  destruction  in  which 
he  had  engaged. 

Rintelen  was  a  tiger  in  the  implacable  hatred 
he  bore  this  country  and  in  the  ferocity  with 
which  he  carried  that  hatred  into  action.  Sent 
to  America  in  191 5  to  hinder  the  shipment  of 
munitions  to  the  Allies,  he  sought  first  to  poison 
the  press,  then  to  corrupt  labour,  and,  not  con- 
tent with  these  things,  he  finally  tried  to  hire 
thugs  to  burn,  to  dynamite,  and  to  assassinate, 
where  other  persuasions  failed;  and  he  did  suc- 
ceed in  setting  fire  to  thirty-six  ships  at  sea, 

158 


THE  TIGER  AND  WOLF  MEET 

causing  millions  of  dollars  of  loss,  and  imperil- 
ing hundreds  of  human  lives. 

Rintelen  had,  however,  the  other  side  of  the 

tiger's   character — its  graces.    When  the 

made  port  at  New  York  on  April  3,  1915,  it 
bore  as  passenger  one  Emil  Gasche,  a  Swiss. 
The  moment  Gasche  passed  the  customs  officers 
Gasche  ceased  to  exist,  and  in  his  place  appeared 
handsome  young  Von  Rintelen,  unexpectedly 
arrived  in  America  for  his  fourth  visit  and  re- 
newing pleasant  acquaintanceships  in  society  and 
in  Wall  Street.  He  was  "the  same  old  chap," 
to  quote  his  own  description  of  himself  in  one 
of  his  letters — rich,  of  a  family  long  accustomed 
to  riches;  well-bred,  of  a  family  long  proud  of 
its  aristocratic  connection  with  the  Imperial 
Court  at  Berlin' (his  father  had  long  been  the 
equivalent  of  our  Secretary  of  the  Treasury); 
young,  the  youngest  of  the  chief  bankers  of 
Germany;  handsome,  with  the  good  looks  that 
come  of  regular  features  and  of  a  slender  frame 
hardened  by  athletics  and  made  distinguished 
by  the  bearing  of  an  officer;  a  sportsman,  who 
raced  his  yacht  in  the  Emperor's  regattas  at  Kiel 
— an  affable,  cultivated,  witty,  accomplished 
man  of  the  world.  No  wonder  he  had  been 
popular  on  his  former  visits.  On  one  of  them 
he  had  opened  in  New  York  a  branch  of  the 
Deutsche  Bank,  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  gov- 

159 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

ernment-controlled  banks  of  Germany,  and  on 
another  he  had  widened  these  financial  relation- 
ships with  Wall  Street.  He  had  travelled  the 
country  over  and  knew  people  everywhere;  and 
he  knew  about  hundreds  more,  even  to  their 
private  affairs  in  money  and  politics  and  those 
intimate  weaknesses  that  pass  into  the  gossip  of 
the  smoking-room.  He  spoke  the  language  with 
only  the  slightest  accent  but  in  its  purest  form, 
and  was  adept  in  our  peculiar  kind  of  humour — 
altogether,  a  fine  and  likable  fellow,  who  liked  us. 

Until  the  war.  And  until  the  Germans,  stung 
by  the  lost  illusions  of  a  quick  and  glorious  vic- 
tory, facing  the  gray  outlook  of  a  long  and  bitter 
struggle,  looking  about  for  some  one  to  blame  for 
their  plight,  and  wearied  of  "strafeing"  Eng- 
land, found  a  new  narcotic  in  a  hatred  of  Amer- 
ica. America,  that  made  the  cartridges  and 
shells  that  patched  up  the  unpreparedness  of 
France  and  Britain  and  Russia,  which  Germany 
had  calculated  as  one  of  the  factors  in  the  equa- 
tion of  victory.  America,  that — as  their  rising 
rage  made  their  voices  shriller — "is  murdering 
our  sons  and  brothers  on  every  battlefield  from 
Switzerland  to  the  sea  for  the  sake  of  blood- 
bought  gold." 

This  cry  became  an  article  of  fanatical  faith 
to  the  German  people.  It  became  likewise 
a  very  practical   problem  to  the  hard-headed 

1 60 


THE  TIGER  AND  WOLF  MEET 

leaders  in  Berlin.  If  they  could  cut  off  this 
supply  of  munitions,  the  Allies  could  be  beaten. 
There  was  no  hope  of  cutting  it  off  at  sea — the 
British  Navy  would  attend  to  that.  It  must 
be  stopped  at  its  source:  stopped  in  America, 
by  a  made-to-order  public  opinion,  or  by  cor- 
ruption, or  by  violence — but  stopped. 

"Whom  shall  we  send  to  America?"  was 
their  problem.  Rintelen  was  chosen.  He  could 
be  trusted — he  was  a  director  of  the  Deutsche 
Bank,  he  knew  America.  He  was  given  credit 
at  the  Hamburg-American  Line  office  in  New 
York  for  $547,000,  authority  for  as  many  millions 
more  as  he  wanted,  independent  powers  as 
great  as  the  German  Ambassador's  at  Wash- 
ington, the  instructions  of  the  German  Govern- 
ment, and  the  blessing  of  the  Fatherland. 

An  American  traitor  in  Berlin  gave  Rintelen 
his  cue  for  operations  in  America.  This  man's 
name  is  known,  and  will  one  day  be  written 
alongside  Benedict  Arnold's,  but  to  disclose 
it  now  would  interfere  with  more  practical 
efforts  for  his  mortal  punishment.  Part  of 
that  punishment  he  is  already  enduring — he  is 
still  in  Germany.  This  traitor  told  Rintelen 
that  the  most  useful  man  in  America  for  his 
purpose  was  David  Lamar,  of  New  York. 
Rintelen  fixed  that  name  in  his  memory,  and 
left  Berlin. 

161 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

His  first  barrier  was  the  old,  old  barrier  to 
German  conquest,  the  British  blockade.  Rin- 
telen  ran  that  under  cover  of  the  Swiss  pass- 
port, under  the  name  of  Gasche. 

Arrived  in  New  York  on  April  3d,  Rintelen 
lost  no  time  in  getting  acquainted  with  Lamar. 
He  disclosed  to  him  his  mission  to  this  country 
and  the  money  he  had  to  execute  it.  The 
Tiger  of  Berlin  met  the  Wolf  of  Wall  Street. 
•  And  how  the  Wolf's  eyes  must  have  glistened, 
for  he  was  at  the  leanest  of  the  hungry  days 
which  regularly  followed  seasons  of  opulence 
in  the  ups  and  downs  which  varied  the  career 
of  this  extraordinary  man.  For  Lamar  was, 
and  is,  an  extraordinary  man.  Endowed  by 
nature  with  a  fascinating  personality  and  with 
a  brilliant  mind,  which  he  had  enriched  by  study, 
a  man  capable  of  great  things,  he  was  possessed 
by  that  strange  perversity  which  often  afflicts 
men  of  exceptional  cleverness — he  would  rather 
make  one  dollar  by  adroit  crookedness  than  a 
million  by  unexciting  honesty.  Perhaps  his 
origin  affected  his  character — he  declined,  on 
the  witness  stand,  to  give  his  true  name  and 
parentage  on  the  ground  that  to  do  so  would 
bring  disgrace  upon  persons  still  living.  He 
entered  Wall  Street  as  a  young  man  from 
nowhere,  and  at  first  gave  promise  of  a  brilliant 
and  honourable  career.     He  early  made  his  mark 

162 


THE  TIGER  AND  WOLF  MEET 

in  finance.  He  was  employed  by  J.  P.  Morgan 
&  Company  and  other  great  banking  concerns, 
and  in  those  days  of  his  legitimate  activities 
amassed  a  large  fortune.  But  this  was  dis- 
sipated in  gambling  on  the  stock  market,  and 
then  Lamar  gravitated  to  the  gutter.  For 
years  it  was  a  by-word  on  the  Street  that  if 
you  wanted  a  clever  man  to  do  a  crooked  job, 
David  Lamar  was  the  man  you  were  looking 
for.  He  had  the  brains  to  do  it  right,  he  had  the 
presence  to  ''get  away  with  it,"  and  he  would 
do  anything  for  money. 

These  traits  had  got  him  into  trouble  shortly 
before  Rintelen  met  him.  When  the  Pujo  Com- 
mittee of  Congress  was  investigating  the  ''money 
trust"  several  years  ago,  some  crooked  brokers 
in  Wall  Street  wanted  some  inside  information 
that  was  going  to  affect  the  price  of  certain 
stocks  in  which  they  were  interested.  They 
could  not  get  this  information  by  legitimate 
means,  and  so  they  adopted  Lamarian  means. 
Lamar  knew  that  a  member  of  Congress  was 
entitled  to  ask  for  this  information.  Mr.  Mit- 
chell Palmer  was  a  Member  of  Congress.  Lamar 
had  one  of  his  devious  inspirations.  He  called 
up  a  banker's  office,  got  the  man  there  who 
knew  what  Lamar  wanted  to  know,  declared 
that  he  was  Mr.  Palmer,  and  demanded  the 
information — and  got  it.     Lamar  repeated  the 

163 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

exploit  several  times.  But  once  too  often.  He 
was  detected,  arrested  and  tried,  convicted, 
and  on  December  3,  1914,  was  sentenced  to 
two  years'  imprisonment  for  the  crime  of  imper- 
sonating an  officer  of  the  Governmer.t.  He 
appealed  the  case  on  the  ground  that  a  Repre- 
sentative in  Congress  was  not  "an  officer  of 
the  Government."  When  Rintelen  met  him 
the  following  April,  Lamar  was  out  on  bail 
pending  the  decision  on  this  appeal. 

Lamar  was  then  in  desperate  straits.  Bad 
luck  had  followed  him  in  the  Street  for  two 
years,  and  had  crowned  his  misfortunes  with 
this  expensive  trial  and  threatened  imprison- 
ment. He  owed  money  everywhere  for  personal 
expenses;  the  merchants  with  whom  he  traded 
had  stopped  his  credit;  he  had  descended  to 
borrowing  from  his  friends  in  sums  as  small  as 
two  dollars  at  a  time.  Then  he  met  Rintelen, 
who  was  on  fire  with  a  passion  that  blinded  him 
to  consequences  and  who  flourished  before  the 
eyes  of  the  famished  Wolf  a  half  million  dollars 
of  real  money.  Here  was  manna  fallen  from 
heaven. 

''Could  Lamar  help  Rintelen!"  With  his 
most  convincing  eloquence,  Lamar  assured  him 
that  he  could.  Never  had  Rintelen  been  better 
advised,  so  Lamar  declared  to  him,  than  when 
his  friend  in  Berlin  had  given  him  his  name^ 

164 


THE  TIGER  AND  WOLF  MEET 

For  he  had  friends  in  Washington,  he  whispered, 
men  powerful  in  the  Government.  And  friends 
among  the  labouring  people,  the  men  whose 
hands  made  those  munitions  Rintelen  had  come 
to  stop,  and  whose  hands  might  be  paralyzed 
by  the  clever  use  of  brains  and  money.  Lamar 
would  supply  the  brains:  Rintelen  would  sup- 
ply the  money.  The  Wolf  saw  good  hunting 
ahead. 

Lamar  laid  before  Rintelen  a  scheme.  They 
would  capitalize  the  American  passion  for  peace: 
they  would  capitalize  in  particular  the  labouring 
man's  aversion  to  war.  A  section  of  opinion 
among  labouring  men  held  that  wars  were 
instigated  by  capitalists  for  gain,  and  were  fought 
by  labouring  men  who  gave  their  lives  to  make 
good  the  selfish  ambitions  of  the  rich.  And  one 
of  the  American  people's  deepest  convictions 
was  that  war  was  an  odious  moral  crime;  and 
that  universal  peace  was  attainable  by  the  pur- 
suit of  moral  ideals. 

Lamar  declared,  then,  that  by  working 
through  his  friends  in  labour,  he  could  organize 
the  workers  of  America  so  that  they  would  re- 
fuse Jo  work  on  the  implements  of  destruction 
of  "capitalistic"  war.  And  that,  by  working 
through  his  friends  in  the  Government,  he 
could  create  a  national  sentiment  that  would 
force  Congress  to  place  an  embargo  on  muni- 

165 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

tions.     But   these   things   would    cost   money. 
Lamar  never  forgot  money. 

Now  we  see  a  sudden  transformation  in  Lamar's 
circumstances.  The  frayed  debtor  appeared 
in  his  old  haunts  garbed  in  the  most  fastid- 
ious selections  of  the  tailor;  the  accumulated 
debts  of  years  were  paid;  the  subway  and  the 
street  car  gave  way  to  automobiles — and  Lamar 
was  particular  that  the  garage  should  supply 
only  the  fine  car  that  was  father  to  the  Liberty 
motor.  He  moved  his  family  from  a  cheap 
apartment  in  New  York  to  a  fine  house  at  Pitts- 
field,  Mass.  His  own  quarters  were  the  hotels 
Astor  and  Belmont  in  New  York,  the  Willard  in 
Washington,  the  La  Salle  in  Chicago,  the  Clay- 
pool  in  Indianapolis.     Things  were  looking  up. 

Lamar  carried  other  men  with  him  on  his 
rising  tide  of  fortune.  Frank  Buchanan,  labour 
Representative  in  Congress  from  the  Seventh 
District  of  Illinois  (North  Chicago),  likewise 
became  a  traveller  and  the  patron  of  exclusive 
Tiotels.  Henry  B.  Martin,  who  eked  out  a 
precarious  living  in  the  lobbies  of  Congress, 
after  a  dubious  career  as  an  officer  of  the  Knights 
of  Labour  in  the  'nineties,  framed  his  wizened 
jfigure  in  a  new  and  luxurious  setting.  H. 
Robert  Fowler,  the  splendid  high  light  of  whose 
gray  life  as  a  half-lawyer,  half-farmer,  in  a 
country  town  in  Illinois,  was  expiring  in  the  last 

i66 


THE  TIGER  AND  WOLF  MEET 

days  of  a  term  in  Congress,  was  suddenly  re- 
vived, before  his  final  extinguishment,  by  the 
Hght  glittering  from  anonymous  gold.  Herman 
J.  Schulteis,  whose  talents,  insufficient  for  suc- 
cess in  the  law,  had  been  more  profitably  em- 
ployed in  the  defunct  Anti-Trust  League  (of 
which  more  later),  rose  rapidly  in  the  monetary 
scale. 

These  men  were  the  instruments  Lamar  used 
in  his  scheme  to  stop  the  munitions  industry  and 
to  get  Rintelen's  money.  That  scheme  was  to 
build  up  a  great  political  organization  of  labour- 
ing men  and  farmers.  This  organization  would 
oppose  the  making  and  shipment  of  munitions; 
it  would  exert  pressure  to  compel  workers  to 
abandon  the  factories,  and  it  would  exert  pres- 
sure to  compel  Congress  to  declare  an  embargo 
on  the  shipment  of  arms.  This  organization  was 
labelled  "Labour's  National  Peace  Council." 

Lamar,  fortified  with  Rintelen's  money, 
launched  his  scheme  in  Washington.  This  scheme 
was  an  inspiration  of  genius.  Able  lawyers 
have  declared  that  no  cleverer  conspiracy  has 
ever  come  to  their  attention.  Its  beauty  was 
its  simplicity.  Rintelen  dealt  with  no  one  but 
Lamar — the  other  leaders  never  saw  him,  and 
most  of  them  never  heard  of  him  until  after  the 
scheme  was  exposed  by  the  Government.  In 
his    turn,    Lamar    operated    entirely    through 

167 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

Martin.  To  Martin  he  gave  his  instructions  to 
see  labour  leaders,  to  organize  the  fake  Peace 
Council,  to  hold  its  camouflage  *' convention," 
to  flood  the  country  with  lecturers  and  printed 
matter  urging  an  embargo  on  munitions.  And 
through  Martin  he  paid  the  bills. 

Lamar  and  Martin  were  old  associates. 
They  had  worked  together  in  the  Anti-Trust 
League,  another  of  the  creations  of  Lamar's 
restless  mind.  The  Anti-Trust  League  origi- 
nated in  the  feverish  'nineties,  when  the  country 
had  its  fears  that  the  growth  of  great  corpora- 
tions spelled  the  control  of  the  Government  by 
monopolies.  The  League  had  its  days  of  promi- 
nence when  it  was  financed  by  big  interests 
that  used  it  to  fight  other  big  interests  to  get  the 
things  they  both  wanted.  But  in  191 5  the 
League  was  a  skeleton,  consisting  of  Lamar, 
Martin,  Schulteis,  and  a  few  others,  held  to- 
gether by  the  bond  of  small  salaries  drawn 
from  some  source  that  preferred  to  remain  un- 
known. 

When  Martin  undertook  to  organize  Labour's 
National  Peace  Council,  under  the  direction 
of  Lamar,  the  first  man  he  approached  was 
Frank  Buchanan.  Buchanan  was  labour's  lead- 
ing champion  on  the  floor  of  Congress.  He 
had  been  president  of  the  international  union 
of  the  structural  iron  workers,  and  he  had  earned 

168 


THE  TIGER  AND  WOLF  MEET 

the  confidence  of  organized  labour,  and  the 
friendship  of  Samuel  Gompers,  the  patriarch  of 
organized  labour. 

Lamar,  Buchanan,  and  Martin,  assisted  by- 
Fowler  and  Schulteis,  engineered  a  mass  meeting 
of  workingmen  in  Chicago  in  June,  191 5,  at 
which  resolutions  were  adopted  calling  for  a 
convention  of  labourers  and  farmers  at  Washing- 
ton to  protest  against  the  traffic  in  munitions. 
The  same  men,  with  this  *' mandate"  behind 
them,  met  in  Washington  on  June  zzd,  and  or- 
ganized Labour's  National  Peace  Council.  They 
prepared  printed  appeals,  in  the  high  language 
of  humanitarianism,  addressed  to  the  labour 
unions  and  the  granges,  and  mailed  them  by  the 
ton  to  all  parts  of  the  country.  They  offered 
to  pay  all  travelling  expenses  and  for  lost  time 
to  delegates  which  these  bodies  should  send  to  a 
convention  to  be  held  in  Washington  on  July 
31st  and  August  ist. 

As  a  preliminary  to  this  convention,  Martin 
paid  labour  leaders  and  other  speakers  to  go 
into  all  sections  of  the  United  States  and  ad- 
dress labour  unions  and  granges.  Probably 
all  these  speakers  acted  in  good  faith.  They 
were  pacifists,  and  when  they  got  an  oppor- 
tunity to  preach  their  doctrine,  they  accepted 
it.  The  opportunity  seemed  legitimate  enough 
— the  name  of  Frank  Buchanan  as  a  sponsor 

169 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

of  the  movement  was  sufficient.  Their  audi- 
ences, too,  were  sincere.  Workmen  and  farm- 
ers had  before  their  eyes  the  contrast  of  their 
own  peaceful  land  with  a  Europe  drenched  in 
blood.  The  blessings  of  peace  were  never  more 
apparent.  They  sent  delegates  gladly  to  a 
meeting  that  seemed  designed  to  perpetuate 
those  blessings. 

But  Samuel  Gompers  opposed  the  conven- 
tion of  Labour's  National  Peace  Council.  He, 
too,  was  a  pacifist — had  for  years  taken  a  leading 
part  in  the  movement  for  international  peace. 
But  Gompers  was  a  thoughtful  man  as  well. 
And  experienced.  And  wise.  He  told  Bu- 
chanan some  things  Buchanan  should  have  told 
himself.  Buchanan  came  from  Chicago  to  At- 
lantic City  to  meet  Mr.  Gompers  and  upbraid 
him  for  his  opposition  to  the  Council.  Mr.  Gom- 
pers gave  him  some  fatherly  advice.  In  effect, 
he  said: 

'*  Frank,  you  have  earned  a  good  name  in 
labour.  We  are  proud  of  you,  and  we  trust 
you.  You  are  at  life's  meridian,  with  years  of 
useful  service  ahead.  But  listen  to  an  old  man, 
who  sees  the  shadows  growing  very  long,  and 
who  has  watched  many  movements  come  and 
go.  You  are  in  wrong.  This  scheme  is  bad. 
There  is  too  much  easy  money  being  passed 
around  in  it.     Labour  hasn't  got  money  to  spend 

170 


THE  TIGER  AND  WOLF  MEET 

like  this.  Somebody  who  has  not  labour's  inter- 
ests at  heart  is  putting  up  that  money. 

*'And  take  the  Council's  aims  themselves. 
Suppose  you  succeed  in  stopping  the  manu- 
facture of  munitions — what  will  happen  to 
labour?  Two  years  ago,  our  boys  were  walking 
the  streets,  begging  for  a  job.  To-day,  every 
man  of  them  has  work,  and  wages  are  going  up. 
War  work  has  done  that.  Do  you  want  to  stop 
the  opportunity  of  labour  to  make  a  living?" 

But  Gompers's  eloquence  left  Buchanan  cold. 
In  the  face  of  his  pleadings  and  advice,  Bu- 
chanan accepted  ^2,700  from  Martin  in  the 
following  six  weeks.  He  saved  his  face  at  the 
last  minute  by  resigning  the  presidency  of 
Labour's  National  Peace  Council  the  day  before 
the  convention  met. 

The  convention  met  in  Washington  on  July 
31st,  at  the  New  Willard  Hotel.  Its  members 
were  impressed,  as  it  was  intended  that  they 
and  the  country  in  general  should  be  impressed, 
by  the  sonorous  voice  and  important  presence 
of  Hannis  Taylor,  former  American  Minister 
to  Spain  and  author  of  text  books  on  consti- 
tutional and  international  law,  such  as  *'The 
Origin  and  Growth  of  the  English  Constitution" 
and  "International  Public  Law."  He  made  an 
opening  address  in  which,  from  his  heights  of 
knowledge,  he  solemnly  declared  that  munitions 

171 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

shipments  were  in  violation  of  international 
law.  His  address  was  largely  devoted  to  assur- 
ances to  his  hearers  that  he  was  an  authority 
on  such  matters  and  that  they  could  take  his 
opinion  as  disposing  of  the  legal  aspect  of  this 
question.  Mr.  Taylor  was  there  to  lend  dis- 
tinction to  the  gathering,  and  he  left  no  doubts 
in  their  minds  that  he  thought  he  was  doing  it. 

But  when  the  delegates  got  down  to  business, 
there  was  trouble.  The  farmer  delegates  became 
suspicious — they  had  vague  fears  of  the  source 
of  the  money  that  was  paying  the  bills;  they 
did  not  like  the  company  they  found  themselves 
in.  They  first  declined  to  bind  their  constitu- 
ents to  the  resolutions  that  were  offered:  then 
they  left  the  convention. 

On  the  second  day,  the  labour  delegates 
became  equally  restless.  Buchanan  had  with- 
drawn. The  delegates  who  used  the  oppor- 
tunity of  being  in  Washington  to  call  on 
Mr.  Gompers  came  away  from  his  office  with 
heavy  hearts.  Returning  to  the  Willard,  they 
saw  the  machinery  being  manipulated  by  the 
descredited  Martin  and  Schulteis.  "What  have 
these  fellows  got  to  do  with  us?"  they  asked 
one  another.  And  then  they  asked  ''these 
fellows"  quite  bluntly,  "Who's  putting  up  the 
money  for  this  show.?"  Martin,  backed  to  the 
wall  of  the  Willard  bar  by  their  insistent  demand 

172 


THE  TIGER  AND  WOLF  MEET 

for  an  answer,  replied  with  an  evasive,  *'What 
difference  does  it  make?"  And  when  they 
shouted  that  it  made  a  profane  lot  of  difference, 
he  answered  defiantly  that  it  was  all  right 
*'even  if  it's  German  money." 

That  finished  the  labour  delegates.  They,  too, 
went  home. 

But  the  ringleaders  had  put  out  a  resound- 
ing resolution  calling  for  an  embargo  on  muni- 
tions. And  though  the  convention  had  fizzed 
out,  it  had  done  an  enormous  lot  of  harm. 
Thousands  of  labouring  men  and  farmers  had 
been  indoctrinated  with  a  specious  pacifism 
that  was  reflected  later  in  the  attempts  to  evade 
the  Conscription  Act  when  we  entered  the  war. 
The  Government  to-day  is  contending  with 
the  moral  antagonisms  aroused  in  certain  sections 
of  the  country  by  the  orators  and  writers  of 
Labour's  National  Peace  Council. 

In  this  moral  infection,  the  work  of  Hannis 
Taylor  played  an  important  part.  He  wrote 
legal  opinions  for  the  Council,  declaring  that 
the  traffic  in  munitions  was  unconstitutional. 
He  received  ^700  for  this  work.  These  opinions 
were  printed  and  distributed  broadcast,  and 
did  much  harm.  More  recently,  Taylor  was 
counsel  for  Robert  Cox,  the  Missouri  draft 
registrant  who  sued  to  restrain  General  Leonard 
Wood  from  sending  him  with  his  regiment  to 

173 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

France.  On  his  behalf,  Hannis  Taylor  con- 
tended that  the  Conscription  Act  was  uncon- 
stitutional, asserting  that  the  only  power  of 
Congress  to  call  out  troops  was  under  the 
militia  clause  of  the  Constitution  which  reads: 
''To  execute  the  laws  of  the  Union,  suppress 
insurrections  and  repel  invasions."  This  meant, 
so  Taylor  contended,  that  no  citizen  could  be 
sent,  against  his  will,  outside  the  United  States 
to  fight  its  battles. 

This  absurd  doctrine,  which  would  force  us 
to  fight  this  war  on  our  own  soil  instead  of 
allowing  us  to  defend  ourselves  in  Europe  against 
German  aggression,  was  promptly  punctured 
by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 
In  his  brief  before  that  Court  Hannis  Tay- 
lor used  language  so  violent  that  the  counsel 
for  the  Government  asked  that  it  be  expunged 
from  the  record.  Taylor  in  his  brief  accused 
the  President  of  being  a  *' dictator,"  of  seizing 
powers  ^'in  open  defiance  of  the  judgments" 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  of  demanding  *'such 
an  aggregation  of  powers  as  no  monarch  ever 
wielded  in  any  constitutional  government  that 
ever  existed." 

The  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  affirming 
the  Government's  right  to  draft  its  citizens 
for  service  overseas,  was  delivered  by  Chief 
Justice  White.    That  stern  old  veteran  of  the 

174 


THE  TIGER  AND  WOLF  MEET 

Lost  Cause  in  our  Civil  War,  speaking  with  the 
aloofness  and  dignity  of  that  august  Court,  in 
measured  terms  expressed  an  opinion  of  Mr. 
Hannis  Taylor  that  is  worth  repeating.  He 
said: 

.  .  .  we  must  notice  a  suggestion  made  by  the 
Government  that  because  of  impertinent  and  scandalous 
passages  contained  in  the  brief  of  the  appellant  the  brief 
should  be  stricken  from  the  files.  Considering  the  pas- 
sages referred  to  and  making  every  allowance  for  intensity 
of  zeal  and  an  extreme  of  earnestness  on  the  part  of 
counsel,  we  are  nevertheless  constrained  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  passages  justify  the  terms  of  censure  by  which 
they  are  characterized  in  the  suggestion  made  by  the 
Government.  But  despite  this  conclusion  which  we  re- 
gretfully reach,  we  see  no  useful  purpose  to  be  subserved 
by  granting  the  motion  to  strike.  On  the  contrary,  we 
think  the  passages  on  their  face  are  so  obviously  in- 
temperate and  so  patently  unwarranted  that  If  as  a  result 
of  permitting  the  passages  to  remain  on  the  files  they 
should  come  under  future  observation,  they  would  but 
serve  to  Indicate  to  what  intemperance  of  statement  an 
absence  of  self-restraint  or  forgetfulness  of  decorum  will 
lead  and  therefore  admonish  of  the  duty  to  be  sedulous 
to  obey  and  respect  the  limitations  which  an  adhesion  to 
them  must  exact. 

^  In  all  the  operations  of  Labour's  National 
Peace  Council,  including  its  convention,  Lamar 
kept  in  the  background,  as  he  knew  labour  had 
no  reason  to  own  him  or  to  love  him.  Buchanan 
and  the  rest  supplied  the  proper  colour  of  pro- 

175 


FIGHTING  GERMANY^S  SPIES 

priety.  From  his  retreat  in  the  Willard  Hotel 
in  Washington,  Lamar  was  sending  ecstatic 
telegrams,  reporting  progress,  signing  the  name 
of  David  H.  Lewis,  and  receiving  in  reply 
approving  messages  from  Rintelen,  who  used 
Jones,  Miller,  and  MuUer  as  aliases.  The  con- 
vention seemed  a  great  success.  And  its  prepa- 
ration and  operation  had  got  the  German's 
money.  ,  Of  the  $547,000  that  Rintelen  brought, 
Lamar  got  more  than  $300,000.  It  looked  so 
good  to  Rintelen  that  he  was  ready  to  get  more — 
from  Germany  or  from  his  Hmitless  sources  of 
credit  here. 

But  all  was  not  well  with  Rintelen.  He  had 
other  lines  out  besides  Lamar's,  and  he  caught 
some  disquieting  fish — some  of  which  he  did 
not  identify  until  later.  First,  he  was  playing 
the  social  game  not  wisely  but  too  well.  He 
gave  "dinner  parties;  was  a  guest,  at  others. 
He  should  have  been  more  politic  than  he  was. 
The  Lusitania  was  sunk  on  May  7th.  Instead  of 
adopting  the  manner  of  a  man  deep  enough  in 
intrigue  to  know  that  he  should  speak  of  this 
crime  as  a  lamentable  blunder  of  his  country's, 
he  justified  it.  His  words  gave  the  gravest 
offense  to  his  guests.  He  went  further,  and 
threw  out  hinted  threats  of  other  perils  that 
would  confront  ships  carrying  munitions — hints 
that  he  himself  had  had  a  hand  in  the  mysterious 

176 


THE  TIGER  AND  WOLF  MEET 

fires  on  ships  that  were  almost  a  daily  occurrence. 
Some  dinner  guests  in  New  York  took  him 
seriously  and  reported  him  to  the  Government, 
which  had  been  suspicious  of  him  almost  from 
the  day  of  his  arrival  in  this  country. 

Also,  Rintelen  undertook  to  get  newspaper 
publicity  favourable  to  an  embargo  on  the  ship- 
ment of  munitions.  He  got  himself  introduced 
to  "Jack"  Hammond,  an  old  newspaper  man 
in  New  York,  and  closed  with  him  a  contract 
for  syndicate  articles  in  a  chain  of  papers  across 
the/' country.  He  met  Hammond  as  one  Fred 
Hansen,  a  ship  captain.  (Hammond  later  testi- 
fied that  Rintelen  told  him  that  he  ''killed" 
Hansen  the  day  after  the  Lusitania  was  sunk.) 
After  sizing  Hammond  up  as  worthy  of  trust,  he 
re-introduced  himself  as  E.V.  Gibbons,  a  purchas- 
ing agent,  with  offices  in  the  building  occupied  in 
part  by  the  Transatlantic  Trust  Company.  And 
at  length  he  confided  to  Hammond  his  real  im- 
portance in  the  scheme  of  things  German. 

Early  in  this  relationship  Hammond  be- 
came sure  that  this  man  was  planning  to  violate 
the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  he  reported 
the  matter  to  the  Department  of  Justice.  The 
Department,  already  suspicious,  asked  Ham- 
mond to  keep  up  his  connection  with  Rin- 
telen, and  through  this  means  it  learned  a 
great  deal  about  him.     Not  enough  to  cause 

177 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

his  arrest — Rintelen  never  confided  that  much 
in  any  American  but  Lamar,  who  had  his  own 
reasons  for  silence. 

fc  Out  of  Rintelen's  multifarious  activities  arose 
many  of  the  mysterious  fires  and  explosions 
in  munitions  plants,  the  burning  of  ships  at  sea, 
the  attempts  on  the  Welland  Canal  in  Canada, 
strikes  in  war  industries,  and  the  hke.  The 
discovery  of  Dr.  Walter  A.  Scheele's  part  in  the 
incendiary  bombs  matter,  and  his  connection 
with  Rintelen,  began  to  make  the  ground  fairly 
warm  under  Rintelen's  feet.  And  the  Govern- 
ment was  taking  an  uncomfortable  interest  in 
Labour's  National  Peace  Council.  Rintelen  be- 
came uneasy. 

His  fears  were  now  fed  from  a  new  quarter. 
Andrew  D.  Meloy  became  a  confidant  of  his, 
and  Meloy  had  his  own  axe  to  grind.  Rin- 
telen had  taken  an  interest  in  the  German 
activities  in  Mexico,  and  almost  from  the  day 
of  his  arrival  had  been  intimate  in  this  work 
with  Federico  Stallforth,  a  German  banker  of 
Mexico  City  who  joined  Rintelen  in  New  York. 
Stallforth  had  offices  with  Meloy  at  55  Liberty 
Street,  and  when  the  Transatlantic  Trust  Com- 
pany became  embarrassed  by  Rintelen's  pres- 
ence, Stallforth  persuaded  Meloy  to  rent  Rin- 
telen desk  room.  Their  acquaintance  started 
there,  about  July  ist. 

178 


THE  TIGER  AND  WOLF  MEET 

Meloy  was  a  well-known  engineer  and  pro- 
moter. He  had  exploited  concessions  in  Mexico 
— railroad  rights  of  way  and  gold  mines — and 
in  his  home  state  of  New  Jersey  had  floated 
some  real-estate  "developments.''  Meloy  saw 
in  Rintelen  exactly  what  Lamar  had  seen — 
a  lot  of  real  money  and  an  eagerness  too  great 
for  caution.  He  began  to  belittle  Lamar's 
scheme.  Labour's  National  Peace  Council  would 
never  do.  It  looked  good  on  paper,  but  it 
would  never  stop  the  shipment  of  munitions. 
He  even  hinted  that  Lamar  had  been  "playing" 
Rintelen.  Now,  if  Rintelen  wanted  a  real 
scheme,  certain  to  succeed,  he  knew  the  very 
thing.  Direct  action — stop  the  bluffing  and 
the  dangerous  intrigues.  Buy  the  whole  mu- 
nitions output  of  the  country.  Bid  high  enough 
to  get  it,  pay  for  it  outright,  and  store  it.  That 
would  cost  money,  lots  of  it:  but  what  was 
money  in  comparison  with  the  certainty  of 
German  victory  which  this  plan  would  insure? 

Rintelen  was  dazzled.  Here  was  the  authen- 
tic voice  of  American  big  business  speaking. 
A  magnificent  scheme.  He  would  take  it  to 
Germany,  take  Meloy  with  him,  and  get  his 
Government  to  O.  K.  it. 

But  how  get  back  to  Germany  ?  He  had  grave 
doubts  about  the  Gasche  passport  being  good 
again.     He  put  the  question  to  Meloy,   and 

179 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

Meloy  advised  against  it.  There  was  a  better 
way:  get  a  new  passport  under  a  new  name.  So 
for  a  few  days  Rintelen  became  "Edward  V. 
Gates,  wine  merchant,  of  Millersburg,  Pa.*' 
In  this  guise  Meloy  introduced  him  to  one  of 
his  own  real-estate  salesmen,  and  Rintelen  took 
this  man  to  dinner  once  or  twice  to  work  up  the 
illusion.  Then,  one  day,  he  asked  the  salesman 
to  go  with  him  to  the  passport  bureau  in  New 
York  and  be  his  witness  to  an  application  for  a 
passport.  The  salesman  went,  and  in  good 
faith  swore  that  Rintelen  was  Edward  V.  Gates. 
His  faith  was  not  so  good  when  he  swore  he 
had  known  him  for  three  years.  The  appli- 
cation was  transmitted  telegraphically  to  Wash- 
ington. Much  to  Rintelen's  astonishment  and 
alarm,  it  was  denied. 

Meanwhile,  Meloy  had  been  working  on  a 
devious  scheme  to  protect  himself  in  his  mis- 
sion to  Berlin.  He  must  be  cloaked  in  emi- 
nent respectability  on  this  errand,  for  it  would 
be  an  unpopular  one  with  the  British  if  they 
knew  its  real  purpose,  and  he  must  hide  that. 
First  of  all,  he  would  take  his  wife,  who  did  not 
know  what  his  mission  was.  She  had  taken  an 
active  interest  before  the  war  in  the  peace  move- 
ments centring  at  The  Hague,  and  nothing  was 
more  natural  than  that  she  should  wish  now, 
during  the  war,  to  renew  her  friendships  in  Hol- 

i8o 


THE  TIGER  AND  WOLF  MEET 

land  with  an  eye  to  furthering  a  cause  now  more 
than  ever  vital  to  the  world. 

But  Meloy  was  not  content  with  only  one 
companion.  He  must  have  others  who  would 
expand  the  picture  of  innocence  abroad.  One 
of  his  neighbours  in  the  suburb  on  the  Jersey 
Coast  where  he  made  his  country  home  was  a 
wealthy  woman  known  widely  in  America  for 
her  interest  both  in  the  peace  and  suffrage 
movements.  Meloy  telephoned  to  her  and 
asked  her  to  see  him  at  his  home.  This  lady 
drove  over  one  summer  evening  in  her  motor 
car,  accompanied  by  two  women  friends.  The 
friends  sat  in  the  open  car  while  she  sat  on  the 
porch  talking  to  Meloy.  Meloy  is  very  deaf; 
the  lady  had  to  talk  loudly  to  make  him  hear. 
Meloy  differed  from  most  deaf  people,  who 
usually  speak  in  a  lower  tone  than  those  who 
hear  well — he  went  rather  to  the  other  extreme, 
and  spoke  louder  than  most  folks  do.  The 
women  in  the  car  heard  the  conversation,  and 
they  heard  it  a  second  time  when  their  friend 
repeated  it  to  them  on  the  way  home.  And  the 
Government  heard  it  also,  from  the  lips  of  all 
three. 

The  burden  of  the  conversation  was  this: 
Meloy  was  taking  his  wife  to  Europe  for  a  vaca- 
tion; they  were  going  to  Holland,  where  so  many 
forward-looking    movements    for   the    good    of 

i8i 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

mankind  made  their  international  headquarters; 
he  would  be  drawn  aside  a  great  deal  by  busi- 
ness affairs  and  Mrs.  Meloy  would  be  lone- 
some; he  was  anxious  to  provide  companionship 
for  her,  if  the  lady  would  accompany  them,  he 
would  pay  all  her  expenses,  he  would  assure  her 
that  her  journey  would  be  made  de  luxe^  he 
would  (he  put  it  more  delicately)  even  add  a 
money  consideration,  he  would  see  that  the 
journey  included  a  visit  to  war-bound  Germany, 
now  so  difficult  of  access,  that  in  Germany  she 
should  have  entree  to  social  circles  so  exclusive 
that  they  were  inaccessible  even  to  the  American 
Ambassador,  and  that,  to  crown  all,  she  should 
be  presented  to  the  Kaiser. 

The  lady  said  she  would  think  it  over.  It 
was  an  attractive  invitation,  but  she  did  not 
just  like  it — perhaps  it  was  too  attractive.  She 
talked  it  over  with  her  friends:  they  advised 
against  it.  She  telephoned  Meloy  next  day  and 
declined. 

Meloy  repeated  the  invitation  to  several 
women.  All  declined.  Then,  as  the  Noordam 
was  to  sail  on  August  3d,  and  he  had  no  more 
time,  he  decided  to  take  his  secretary,  a  Miss 
Brophy. 

Rintelen  was  now  thoroughly  alarmed.  The 
Government's  refusal  to  grant  his  fraudulent 
application   for   a   passport    indicated    that    it 

182 


THE  TIGER  AND  WOLF  MEET 

knew  about  him.  The  Government  was  get- 
ting "warm"  in  its  investigation  of  the  incen- 
diary bombs.  The  Government  was  taking  an 
unpleasant  interest  in  Labour's  National  Peace 
Council.  Rintelen  felt  irresistibly  the  pangs  of 
Heimweh,  the  longing  for  home.  He  must  go,  at 
any  risk.     He  would  chance  it  as  Gasche  again. 

So  he  sailed  on  the  Noordamy  with  Meloy 
and  party.  He  bore  with  him  Lamar's  urgent 
appeals  for  more  funds  for  Labour's  National 
Peace  Council,  now  at  the  high  tide  of  its 
success.  And  he  was  in  the  hands  of  Meloy, 
who  was  at  the  first  of  his  own  rainbow  of  hope 
of  millions  with  which  to  buy  America's  munition 
output — on  commission. 

At  Falmouth  the  Noordam  was  detained  for 
fourteen  hours.  The  British  took  a  great 
interest  in  the  Gasche-Meloy  party.  Gasche's 
baggage  revealed  nothing  suspicious,  but  Gasche 
was  removed  to  a  long  residence  in  an  intern- 
ment camp  near  London.  Meloy  was  detained 
for  several  days.  Mrs.  Meloy  soon  appeared 
to  be  beyond  suspicion.  Miss  Brophy  de- 
clared that  her  baggage  contained  only  personal 
effects.  But  at  the  bottom  of  her  last  trunk 
was  found  a  wallet  containing  Gasche's  papers. 
These  were  seized,  and  Miss  Brophy  and  Mrs. 
Meloy  were  allowed  to  proceed  to  Holland, 
where  they  were  later  rejoined  by  Meloy. 

183 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

The  Gasche  papers  were  most  interesting. 
They  contauied  some  of  Rintelen*s  letters  show- 
ing his  intimacy  with  well-known  New  Yorkers, 
and  letters  in  which  he  referred  to  his  "official 
mission''  to  the  United  States  that  were  very 
important,  for  they  proved  what  Rintelen 
steadfastly  denied,  namely,  that  he  was  in  this 
country  by  orders  of  the  German  Government. 
In  one  of  them  to  a  man  in  Germany,  whom 
he  addressed  as  '*Most  Honourable  Counsellor," 
he  wrote:  "'Your  letter  of  the  25th  March 
[191 5]  was  sent  after  me  when  I  was  on  an 
official  journey^  and  I  request  you  to  excuse 
the  delaying  in  replying."  And  another  letter, 
from  the  National  Bank  Fuer  Deutschland, 
dated  Berlin,  25th  May,  1915,  and  addressed 
**To  the  Landed  Proprietor,  Von  Preskow," 
contained  this  sentence:  '* Director  Rintelen, 
who  looked  after  Major  Von  Katte's  account, 
entered  the  navy  on  the  outbreak  of  hostilities, 
and  as  he  is  at  present  on  an  official  journey  is 
not  available  at  the  moment." 

With  Rintelen's  internment  ended  Lamar's 
golden  fortune  and  Meloy's  golden  vision  and 
Rintelen's  dream  of  destruction.  And  now 
began  one  of  the  most  difficult  and  one  of  the 
longest  tasks  of  the  Department  of  Justice. 
For,  out  of  the  fragments  of  evidence  at  its 
command,  and  out  of  the  seemingly  innocent 

184 


%//////' ///r'///  ///r:u ///■/ uWj.j^/// rr///r  ■  A/Z'/y 


RINTKLEx\  AxN'D  HIS  CONFEDtRATES 
Above,  Rintelen's  photograph  on  a  false  passoort  with  which  he  tried  to  escape 
from  the  United  States;     left,  Andrew  D.  Malov;  right,  David  Lamar,  "the 
Wolf  of  Wall  Street" 


THE  TIGER  AND  WOLF  MEET 

public  acts  of  Labour's  National  Peace  Council, 
and  out  of  the  obscure  and  isolated  outrages 
to  ships  and  factories  in  the  United  States^ 
the  Department  of  Justice  had  to  construct  a 
pattern  that  should  prove,  by  tangible  legal 
evidence,  the  guilt  of  Rintelen  and  Lamar  in 
a  plot  to  violate  the  laws  of  the  United  States. 

This  long  investigation  was  a  fascinating 
study  in  human  nature.  If  only  Lamar  had 
been  a  little  different  in  his  manners,  he  might 
have  escaped  the  clutches  of  the  law.  If  Rin- 
telen had  been  as  wise  as  he  was  clever,  he 
might  still  be  in  an  internment  camp  instead 
of  a  prison. 

Lamar,  it  may  be  recalled,  had  a  weakness 
for  automobiles.  He  hired  them  on  all  occasions. 
They  were  especially  useful  to  him  for  con- 
ferences with  Rintelen.  They  did  not  wish  to 
be  seen  together,  so  Lamar  would  drive  to  an 
unfrequented  spot  in  Central  Park.  Rintelen 
would  drive  up  in  another  car  and  get  into 
Lamar's,  and  then  they  would  go  for  a  long  ride 
while  they  discussed  their  plans.  Sometimes 
they  would  go  for  hours  on  the  North  Shore 
of  Long  Island;  sometimes  for  long  excursions 
in  the  Pelham  region  of  Westchester  County, 
stopping  perhaps  at  a  wayside  inn  and  taking 
a  room  for  greater  privacy  in  their  conferences. 

An  agent  of  the  Department  of  Justice  spent 
185 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

SIX  weeks  making  the  rounds  of  the  garages 
in  New  York.  He  carried  Lamar's  picture  in 
his  pocket.  He  showed  it  to  every  chauffeur 
in  every  garage.  And  every  chauffeur  who  had 
driven  a  car  for  Lamar  during  that  summer  of 
1915  recognized  the  picture,  and  every  one  of 
them  apphed  the  same  epithet  to  its  original 
that  Trampas  apphed  to  the  Virginian  in  Owen 
Wister's  book  when  the  Virginian,  in  response, 
drew  his  gun  and  demanded  that  "when  you 
call  me  that,  smile!"  For  Lamar,  who  was  the 
suave,  the  gracious,  the  ultra-polite  and  charm- 
ing man  to  people  whom  he  wished  to  cajole, 
was  overbearing,  fault-finding,  and  peremptory 
toward  those  who  served  him.  His  movements 
in  the  hotels  about  the  country  were  several 
times  traced  by  a  rough  description  completed 
by  a  remark  about  his  manner  toward  servants. 
No  waiter  or  bell-boy  ever  forgot  him.  He  was 
forever  "kicking  about  the  service." 

This  vivid  impression  that  he  made  on  the 
chauffeurs  contributed  greatly  to  his  undoing. 
They  remembered  him  perfectly,  and  recalled 
his  companions.  They  recognized  Rintelen's 
photograph.  And  several  of  them  had  over- 
heard parts  of  the  conversations  that  were 
useful  to  the  Government.  Through  these 
men,  Lamar's  connection  with  Rintelen  in  a 
conspiracy    to    violate    the    Sherman    Act    by 

186 


THE  TIGER  AND  WOLF  MEET 

restraining  our  foreign  trade  in  munitions  was 
established. 

One^s  laundry,  too,  may  be  a  dangerous 
thing.  Lamar  denied  that  he  had  stopped 
at  hotels  in  Chicago  and  Indianapolis  and 
elsewhere  at  the  same  time  that  Martin  and 
others  were  there.  But  handwriting  experts 
proved  that  the  names  **  David  Lenaur,''  ^'David 
Lewis,"  and  the  like,  on  hotel  registers  on  those 
days  were  in  Lamar's  handwriting.  And  the 
conclusive  proof  of  their  evidence  was  that  the 
laundry  lists  of  the  hotels  on  those  days  showed 
that  the  laundry  mark  on  the  linen  of  "Lenaur" 
and  of  "Lewis"  was  the  laundry  mark  of  Lamar. 

Charge  accounts  at  stores  may  also  prove 
troublesome.  It  became  necessary  to  find  out 
where  Lamar  banked  his  money.  That  was  dis- 
covered through  Lamar's  stomach  trouble.  He 
was  a  patron  of  a  druggist  in  New  York  who  had 
his  pet  prescription  for  his  pet  ailment.  Lamar 
sometimes  wrote,  and  sometimes  telegraphed, 
for  another  bottle  of  this  medicine.  A  telegram 
of  this  kind  sent  the  Government  agent  to  the 
druggist.  Did  Lamar  ever  pay  by  check  .f* 
On  what  banks?  The  answers  led  to  those 
banks  and  thence  to  others  and  thence  to 
Lamar's  brokers,  from  one  of  whom  alone  evi- 
dence was  obtained  that  the  whilom  bankrupt 
had  lost,  in  one  series  of  speculations  that  sum- 

187 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

mer,  $38,000  in  cash.  Whose  cash?  The  Gov- 
ernment was  able  to  prove  that  Lamar  had  got 
thousands  of  dollars  from  Rintelen,  because 
they  produced  the  men  who  saw  Rintelen  pay 
it,  and  Lamar  was  not  able  to  prove  that  he 
had  got  any  such  sums  from  anybody  else, 
so  the  jury  took  the  Government's  theory  as 
fact  that  Lamar  was  Rintelen's  man. 

The  story  of  this  proof  is  worth  telling.  On 
the  witness  stand  at  the  trial,  George  Plockman, 
the  treasurer  of  the  Transatlantic  Trust  Com- 
pany (the  Austrian  bank  in  New  York  with 
w^hich  Rintelen  kept  his  funds)  described  the 
arrangement  Rintelen  had  made  to  conceal 
the  passage  of  money  for  illegal  acts.  He  had 
instructed  the  Transatlantic  Trust  Company, 
when  it  received  checks  drawn  by  him  in  a 
certain  form,  to  cash  them  without  questioning 
the  identity  of  the  bearer  and  without  requiring 
him  to  endorse  them. 

One  check  of  this  kind  was  presented  at  the 
bank  one  day,  and  the  paying  teller  brought  it 
to  Plockman  to  ask  if  he  should  pay  it. 

''Who  presented  it?"  asked  Plockman. 

*'That  dark  man  over  there,"  replied  the 
paying  teller. 

■  "I  thought,"  said  Plockman  on  the  witness 
stand,  ''that  this  man  was  a  Mexican,  but  while  I 
was  looking  at  him  our  vice-president  came  up 

188 


THE  TIGER  AND  WOLF  MEET 

and  when  he  understood  the  situation  and  saw 
the  man  he  said :  *Mein  Gott !  Dot  is  de  Volf  of 
Vail  Street!  I  hope  Rintelen  has  not  got  into 
Azj  clutches!"' 

One  other  incident  of  the  trial  should  be  told/ 
Testimony  was  brought  in  that  showed  how 
the  money  for  the  Peace  Council  was  spent. 
One  item  was  for  funds  to  pay  the  expenses  of  a 
German  preacher  from  St.  Louis  to  attend  the 
convention  at  Washington  and  open  the  pro- 
ceedings with  prayer.  Lamar  had  never  heard 
of  this  until  he  heard  it  in  the  courtroom.  It 
was  too  much  for  him.  When  this  evidence 
came  out,  of  the  lengths  to  which  his  own  pupils 
had  out-distanced  even  their  teacher  in  the  art 
of  political  camouflage,  he  burst  into  roars  of 
uncontrollable  laughter  which  literally  stopped 
all  proceedings  in  court,  the  tears  rolling  down 
his  cheeks  as  he  struggled  to  subdue  his  mirth. 

Out  of  all  the  investigations  of  the  Govern- 
ment arose  a  card  index  of  every  man  that  Rinte- 
len and  Lamar  had  seen  during  the  four  months 
from  April  3  to  August  3,  191 5,  of  every  hotel 
they  had  visited,  of  practically  every  telephone 
call  they  had  made  and  every  telegram  sent  or 
received,  of  nearly  every  dollar  they  had  had  and 
spent.  Thousands  upon  thousands  of  these  cards 
were  made  and  filed.     They  convicted  both  men. 

The  Government  indicted  Rintelen,  Lamar, 
189 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

Buchanan,  Fowler,  Martin,  Schulteis,  and  a 
man  named  Monnett,  for  conspiracy  to  violate 
the  Sherman  Act  in  the  operations  of  Labour's 
National  Peace  Council  to  restrain  our  foreign 
trade.  Rintelen,  Lamar,  and  Martin  were  con- 
victed. The  rest  got  the  benefit  of  a  very  slim 
doubt,  except  Frank  B.  Monnett,  the  farmer 
attorney-general  of  Ohio,  whose  reputation  in 
the  early  suit  of  Ohio  to  oust  the  Standard 
Oil  Company  from  the  state  had  been  used  as 
''stage  setting"  by  Martin.  He  was  freed  by 
the  Court  before  the  jury  was  sent  out  to  de- 
liberate. The  convicted  men  got  the  limit  of 
the  law — one  year  in  jail.  Rintelen  was  like- 
wise indicted  for  perjury  in  his  application  for 
a  passport  as  Edward  V.  Gates,  and  again  for 
another  crime  against  our  laws.  He  was  con- 
victed on  both  charges,  and  sentenced  to  several 
months'  imprisonment  on  each. 

No  one  realized  better  than  the  judges  who 
sentenced  him  how  inadequate  these  punish- 
ments to  expiate  his  crimes.  But  the  laws 
under  which  Rintelen  was  convicted — and  they 
were  the  only  laws  under  which  his  acts  (all 
committed  before  our  entry  into  the  war)  could 
be  questioned — were  enacted  in  times  of  peace, 
when  no  one  dreamed  of  the  world  conflict  or 
could  have  imagined  how  it  would  affect  us 
when  it  came. 

190 


THE  TIGER  AND  WOLF  MEET 

Rintelen  has  completed  serving  time  on  the 
first  of  his  three  sentences,  and  has  the  other 
two  still  to  serve.  The  Tiger  of  Berlin  is 
securely  caged,  and  not  likely  soon  to  be  again 
at  large. 


191 


CHAPTER  IX 
The  American  Protective  League 

ON  GOING  to  war  with  the  great  masters 
of  spy  craft  last  year,  the  United  States 
had  only  a  handful  of  secret  service  men  to 
guard  its  internal  frontier.  Within  our  borders 
were  a  million  and  a  half  men  and  youths  who 
were  enemy  aliens.  Not  all  of  them  hostile,  it 
is  true;  but  all  potentially  dangerous  because 
great  national  organizations  existed — even  shoot- 
ing societies — through  which  German  influences 
might  reach  in  a  few  hours  or  days.  And  in 
every  centre  of  population  there  were  captains 
and  field  marshals  of  German  intrigue,  supplied 
with  unlimited  money,  to  appeal  to  their  feelings 
and  to  lead  them  should  a  chance  come  to 
strike. 

Yet  America,  during  the  first  year  of  war, 
has  been  singularly  peaceful.  No  serious  dis- 
turbance has  hampered  war  preparations  con- 
ducted on  a  gigantic  scale.  Even  the  Selective 
Service  Act,  inconsistent  with  all  our  volunteer 
traditions  and  pride,  was  accepted  almost  with- 
out opposition.     Instead  of  a  red  reign  of  con- 

192 


THE  AMERICAN  PROTECTIVE  LEAGUE 

flagration  and  civil  strife,  there  have  been  no 
outbreaks  worthy  of  the  name;  and,  according 
to  the  Underwriters'  Association,  not  a  single 
fire  in  our  munitions  plants  of  a  clearly  estab- 
lished incendiary  character. 

Attorney-General  Thomas  W.  Gregory,  in 
fact,  had  solid  grounds  for  declaring  to  the 
executive  committee  of  the  American  Bar  Asso- 
ciation recently:  "'I  do  not  believe  that  there  is 
to-day  any  country  which  is  being  more  capably 
policed  than  is  the  United  States."  He  added 
that  for  every  man  engaged  in  detecting  and  in- 
vestigating violations  of  federal  lazus  in  April, 
igiy,  there  are  at  least  one  thousand  to-day;  while 
reports  on  new  cases  are  coming  in  at  the  rate 
of  fifteen  hundred  a  day! 

That  sounds  like  a  miracle  of  organization, 
doesn't  it.^  Even  the  army,  with  its  pride- 
compelling  record  of  expansion,  is  a  slow  coach 
beside  these  legions  of  "plain-clothes"  soldiers 
w^ho  hold  our  inner  lines.  Let's  see  how  it 
happened. 

When  the  war  broke,  the  only  secret  service 
work  done  by  the  Government  was  handled 
by  five  small  organizations.  The  Department 
of  Justice  had  its  Bureau  of  Investigation, 
charged  with  the  discovery  of  off*enses  against 
the  federal  statutes — not  a  large  force,  but 
quite    adequate    to    its    peace-time    job.     The 

193 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

Treasury  Department  maintained  a  secret  ser- 
vice with  two  definite  functions — to  protect  the 
President's  Hfe  and  person,  and  to  prevent 
counterfeiting.  The  Army  and  Navy  had  each 
a  few  officers  detailed  to  its  intelligence  service 
—the  gathering  of  military  and  naval  informa- 
tion and  the  protection  of  our  own  plans  and 
operations.  And  finally  the  State  Department 
possessed  a  small  intelligence  section  of  its  own. 
But  by  comparison  with  the  territory  to  be 
covered  and  the  number  of  active  German  and 
Austrian  agents  in  the  country,  there  were  few 
experienced  men  available  for  counter-espionage. 
And  there  in  the  background  were  that  million 
and  a  half  enemy  aliens  who  would  bear  a  lot 
of  watching. 

The  declaration  of  war,  then,  instantly  brought 
an  emergency.  Part  of  it  the  Department  of 
Justice  met  by  striking  swift  and  hard  at  all 
who  were  unquestionably  enemy  agents.  Be- 
cause of  their  propaganda  and  other  activities 
against  the  Entente  Allies,  these  agents  had 
been  under  observation  for  some  time.  Within 
forty-eight  hours  the  more  dangerous  had  been 
rounded  up — under  the  hoary  old  act  of  1798, 
which  gave  the  President  power  to  intern  enemy 
aliens  when  their  being  at  liberty  might  con- 
stitute a  menace  to  the  public  safety. 

There  remained  the  urgent  need  of  an  immense 
194 


THE  AMERICAN  PROTECTIVE  LEAGUE 

increase  in  the  Government's  counter-espionage 
forces.  It  would  take  thousands  of  trained  and 
intelligent  operatives  to  keep  watch  of  the 
German  agents  and  German  sympathizers  who 
swarmed  throughout  the  country.  As  a  class, 
such  operatives  did  not  exist:  to  draft  the  right 
kind  of  raw  material  from  civil  life  would  in- 
volve delays,  great  personal  sacrifices  on  the 
part  of  the  men  drafted,  and  an  enormous  yearly 
budget.  Thousands  of  business  and  profes- 
sional careers  would  be  interrupted  at  critical 
stages.  Most  of  the  men  who  accepted  the  call 
would  be  risking  after-the-war  failure  in  their 
chosen  callings.  The  work  simply  couldn't  be 
done  that  way. 

Then  it  was  that  the  American  Protective 
League  found  a  way  to  do  it. 

The  League  is  a  volunteer  body  of  250,000 
patriotic  Americans,  organized  with  the  ap- 
proval and  operating  under  the  direction  of  the 
Department  of  Justice,  Bureau  of  Investigation. 
It  cross-cuts  every  commercial,  industrial,  pro- 
fessional, social,  and  economic  level  in  American 
life.  Bank  presidents  and  bell  hops,  judges 
and  janitors,  managers  and  mechanics — all  ranks 
meet  on  its  common  platform  of  loyalty  and 
service.  It  has  woven  a  net  of  discreet  surveil- 
lance across  more  than  a  thousand  American 
cities  and  towns;  and  the  meshes  are  so  small 

19s 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

that  few  active  German  agents  slip  through. 
It  reaches  out  into  the  country  as  well.  More 
than  52,000,000  people — about  half  the  popula- 
tion of  the  United  States — live  in  communities 
where  the  League  has  active  and  effective  organi- 
izations;  where  too,  propaganda,  or  sedition, 
sabotage  or  plain  slacking  are  neither  popular 
nor  healthy. 

The  League  was  born  in  March,  last  year, 
two  weeks  before  we  declared  war.  The  idea 
originated  with  Mr.  A.  M.  Briggs  of  Chicago. 
Mr.  Briggs  is  now  Chairman  of  the  National 
Board  of  Directors  of  the  American  Protective 
League.  He  secured  authority  to  establish  it 
as  a  volunteer  auxiliary  of  the  Department  of 
Justice  on  March  22,  1917.  Within  a  month 
he  had  the  League  in  operation  with  several 
thousand  members.  With  him,  Captain  Charles 
Daniel  Frey  and  Mr.  Victor  Elting  were  re- 
sponsible for  its  development  and  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  work.  Mr.  Frey  is  organizer  and 
First  Chief  of  the  Chicago  District,  the  original 
working  unit  of  the  American  Protective  League. 
The  plan,  the  policies,  and  the  methods  de- 
veloped in  the  Chicago  District,  which  includes 
280  cities  and  towns,  were  approved  by  the 
Department  of  Justice,  and  have  been  generally 
followed  throughout  the  country  as  the  model 
and  standard  for  subsequent  organizations.     Mr. 

196 


THE  AMERICAN  PROTECTIVE  LEAGUE 

Elting,  as  Assistant  Chief  at  Chicago,  has  from 
the  inception  of  the  League  been  active  in  the 
development  of  its  poHcy.  These  three,  now 
national  directors  with  headquarters  at  Wash- 
ington, are  modest  about  taking  any  credit  for 
the  amazing  extension  of  the  League  and  its 
extraordinary  present  usefulness.  They  insist 
that  the  first  great  response  was  due  to  the 
general  recognition  of  a  national  crisis,  the 
impulse  to  do  something  to  meet  it,  and  the 
patriotic  and  unselfish  cooperation  of  every  local 
chief  and  individual  operative  in  the  country. 
At  all  events,  it  was  knowledge  of  how  wide- 
spread and  unscrupulous  was  the  German  spy 
system,  and  how  seriously  it  was  affecting  the 
temper  and  loyalty  of  aliens  and  naturalized 
citizens,  that  launched  the  League.  Proposal 
was  made  to  the  Department  of  Justice  that  a 
volunteer  auxiliary  of  simon-pure  Am.ericans  be 
formed  to  keep  w^atch  for  the  Government  in 
every  neighbourhood  and  to  make  most  of  the 
Department's  investigations  for  it.  The  service 
would  be  without  pay.  No  inquiries  would  be 
undertaken  without  reference  of  the  case  to  the 
Department  first.  And  no  expense  accounts 
would  be  presented  for  money  spent.  Doubts 
may  have  existed  regarding  the  feasibility  of 
the  plan.  Such  men  as  were  needed  would  be 
hard  to  interest  in  the  drudgery  of  police  in- 

197 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

vestigation.  But  Mr.  Briggs  was  confident  that 
there  were  thousands  of  business  and  profes- 
sional men  past  service  age  and  necessary  to 
their  famiHes  and  communities  who  still  were 
fired  with  patriotism  and  filled  with  wrath 
at  the  progress  of  German  propaganda  and 
plotting  in  this  country.  They  were  success- 
ful men  of  affairs — men  of  proved  judgment, 
intelligence,  initiative,  and  energy.  The  De- 
partment could  not  buy  their  full  time  at  any 
price,  but  it  could  command  their  spare  time, 
plus  as  many  work-hours,  on  occasions,  as  were 
necessary  to  complete  any  task.  There  were 
also  men  of  service  age,  eager  to  fight  but  held 
at  home  by  obligations  or  other  causes,  who 
would  not  stint  either  time  or  energy  in  the 
League's  service. 

Given  authority  to  go  ahead  March  22,  1917, 
the  League  was  organized  on  military  lines. 
The  plan  was  that  each  city  and  its  tributary 
country  should  be  broken  up  into  divisions,  in 
charge  of  inspectors.  Divisions  were  cut  up 
into  districts,  with  captains  in  command.  And 
each  captain  recruited  as  many  working  squads, 
under  lieutenants,  as  the  size  and  character  of 
his  district  demanded.  Reinforcing  this  terri- 
torial organization  was  another  which  treated 
every  important  industry,  trade,  and  profes- 
sion,  and   even   large   business   establishments 

198 


THE  AMERICAN  PROTECTIVE  LEAGUE 

and  office  buildings  as  individual  organization 
units.  The  territorial  organization  was  known 
as  the  Bureau  of  Investigation;  the  classified 
trade,  professional,  and  industrial  force  as  the 
Bureau  of  Information.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
they  were  just  the  right  and  left  arms  of  the 
League.  Each  had  its  specialized  work  to  do, 
but  the  big  jobs  in  each  case  were  the  same. 

From  the  start,  the  two  main  functions  of 
the  League  stood  out  boldly.  The  first  was 
"to  make  prompt  and  reliable  report  of  all  dis- 
loyal or  enemy  activities  and  of  all  infractions 
or  evasions  of  the  war  code  of  the  United  States." 
The  second  followed  naturally:  *'to  make  prompt 
and  thorough  investigation  of  all  matters  of 
similar  nature  referred  to  it  by  the  Department 
of  Justice."  Close  cooperation  with  the  local 
agent  of  the  Department  was  essential  in  both 
instances. 

Because  the  plan  had  been  carefully  worked 
out,  the  League  made  a  flying  start  in  a  great 
Western  city.  Inspectors,  captains,  lieutenants 
were  commissioned  and  assigned  to  their  units. 
** Operatives,"  picked  with  equal  caution,  were 
sworn  in  and  given  their  credentials.  By  May 
first,  there  were  a  thousand  men  engaged  in 
the  absorbing  new  game. 

Thousands  of  investigations  taxed  the  young 
ardour  and  endurance  of  the  League — suspected 

199 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

spy  activities,  seditious  speeches,  lying  reports 
about  the  Red  Cross,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  Knights 
of  Columbus,  pro-German  propaganda,  sus- 
pected treasonable  conspiracies,  sabotage  cases 
and,  later,  organized  and  individual  efforts  to 
evade  the  draft.  But  every  member  was  under 
pledge  to  run  down  to  the  end  any  case  assigned 
to  him,  whether  it  took  a  day  or  a  week,  and 
results  came  speedily. 

Though  lacking  in  experience,  most  of  the 
members  had  unusuar  equipment  as  investiga- 
tors. Nearly  all  had  imagination  and  logical, 
work-trained  minds.  Many  of  them  were  men 
of  means  and  could  devote  all  of  their  time  to 
urgent  cases.  Instead  of  waiting  for  an  O.  K. 
on  a  requisition  for  a  motor  car,  they  had  ma- 
chines of  their  own  to  use.  Without  consider- 
ing how  an  item  would  strike  a  government 
auditor,  they  could  and  did  spend  their  own 
money  to  get  the  facts  they  sought.  Without 
having  to  finesse  approaches  to  necessary  sources 
of  information,  they  could  usually  draw  on  a 
wide  circle  of  friends  for  inside  facts  which  a 
professional  detective  might  require  days  to 
secure. 

The  League's  rule  in  assigning  cases,  indeed, 
is  to  choose  as  investigator  the  man  whose 
social,  professional,  or  business  connections  are 
such  that   he  can  *' clean  up"  with  the  least 

200 


Officers  of  the  American  Protective  League,  an  organization  of  250,000 
patriotic  American  business  men  who  cooperate  effectively  with  the  Depart- 
ment of  Justice  in  its  operations  against  spies,  slackers,  and  seditionists. 
Above,  Mr.  A.  M.  Briggs,  founder;  left,  Capt.  Daniel  Frey,  and  right,  Mr. 
Victor  Elting,  National  Directors 


THE  AMERICAN  PROTECTIVE  LEAGUE 

effort  and  in  the  shortest  space  of  time.  When 
there  are  many  places  to  visit,  the  case  goes  to 
a  man  owning  a  motor  car.  If  it  is  complex  in 
character,  with  lines  extending  into  various 
industries,  clubs,  trades,  and  so  on,  the  work 
may  be  divided  and  several  members  assigned 
to  it.  The  main  idea  is  to  get  the  work  done, 
and  done  quickly — the  secondary  purpose  to 
make  it  as  easy  as  may  be  for  the  members. 

League  members  knew  little  about  methods 
of  investigation.  But  they  had  that  priceless 
gift,  intelligence,  and  they  learned  by  doing. 
There  was  such  a  mass  of  complaints,  tips, 
and  wild  guesses  concerning  enemy  activities 
waiting  to  be  handled,  that  no  extensive  school- 
ing could  be  attempted.  The  cleverest  govern- 
ment operatives  available  and  experienced  city 
and  private  detectives  talked  to  groups  of 
captains  and  lieutenants,  and  these  passed 
along  the  information  to  their  men.  A.  Bruce 
Bielaski,  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Investigation, 
Department  of  Justice,  was  quick  to  recognize 
the  possibilities  of  the  League.  Everywhere  his 
organization  gave  invaluable  aid  and  coopera- 
tion in  training  League  members. 

Able  lawyers  made  brief  but  comprehensive 
digests  of  the  laws  involved  and  the  rules  of 
evidence  to  be  observed.  Methods  of  work 
and  problems  of  authority  and  conduct  were 

201 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

explained  at  length  in  a  handbook.  Supple- 
menting the  handbook  and  the  law  digest, 
bulletins  were  published  at  intervals  to  suggest 
better  methods,  to  report  fresh  evidence  of  Ger- 
man plans  and  propaganda,  or  to  sum  up  and 
interpret  the  new  laws  which  Congress  was 
enacting  for  the  punishment  of  espionage  and 
sedition. 

Close  touch  was  kept  at  every  step  with  the 
Department  of  Justice.  Forms  for  reports  and 
records  were  adopted,  conforming  to  the  system 
in  use  by  the  Department.  Carbons  of  all  re- 
ports and  records  were  made  for  the  files  of 
the  Bureau  of  Investigation.  Eventually  a  com- 
plete record  of  each  case  found  its  way  to  the 
master  file  in  Washington.  In  this  way  dupli- 
cation of  effort  was  avoided,  complete  coopera- 
tion assured,  and  the  exact  status  of  any  inquiry 
could  be  learned  in  a  moment  by  any  one 
needing  the  information. 

Far  from  running  wild  in  its  enthusiasm  to 
corral  all  enemy  agents,  the  League  tried  to 
give  every  alien  it  investigated  an  American 
square  deal.  Perhaps  the  finest  paragraph  in 
the  handbook  is  this  one  urging  the  right  of 
aliens  to  considerate  treatment  until  their  uu- 
friendly  attitude  is  revealed: 

"Many  aliens  resident  in  this  country  are 
absolutely  loyal  to  its  institutions  and  its  laws, 

202 


THE  AMERICAN  PROTECTIVE  LEAGUE 

and  many  individuals  having  the  legal  status 
of  alien  enemies  are  not  only  conducting  them- 
selves with  due  respect  to  our  laws,  but  are  of 
great  value  in  industry  and  business.  Great 
care  must  be  exercised  by  members  to  avoid 
unnecessary  alarm  to  aliens  and  to  avoid  causing 
apprehension  upon  their  part  as  to  the  fairness 
and  justice  of  the  attitude  of  the  Government 
toward  them.  In  this  regard  members  will  be 
called  upon  for  the  exercise  of  judgment  and 
discretion  of  a  high  order.  They  should  protect 
citizens  and  aliens  from  unjust  suspicion,  but 
must  fearlessly  ascertain  and  report  treason 
and  disloyalty  wherever  found." 

All  this  has  to  do  with  the  investigation  of 
specific  cases  after  they  have  been  brought  to 
the  League's  attention  by  the  report  of  a  mem- 
ber, an  outside  complaint,  or  a  request  from  the 
Department  of  Justice  for  an  inquiry  into  the 
facts.  Quite  as  important  in  discouraging  dis- 
loyalty or  pro-German  activities  is  the  service 
of  League  members  as  eyes  and  ears  for  the 
Government  in  detecting  and  making  first  re- 
ports on  offenses  or  intended  offenses  against 
the  war  code  of  the  United  States. 

This  means  that  every  League  member  is 
always  on  the  lookout  for  any  word  or  act  that 
smacks  of  sedition  or  espionage.  It  is  here 
that  the  classified  organization  by  industries, 

203 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

trades,  professions,  and  individual  business  es- 
tablishments develops  its  full  value.  When  a 
factory  making  munitions,  clothing,  motor  trucks, 
or  any  other  war  necessity  has  been  organized 
as  a  League  unit,  the  members  are  on  the 
alert  for  signs  of  disturbance.  They  can  quickly 
report  to  their  supervisor  what  they  have  seen 
or  heard,  and,  after  comparing  notes,  can  take 
precautions  against  the  threatened  trouble.  If 
they  need  outside  help  in  checking  up  a  suspect 
after  working  hours,  the  territorial  organization 
is  ready  to  cooperate.  The  suspect  need  never 
know  that  he  is  under  suspicion  until  his  guilt 
or  innocence  is  pretty  well  established. 

Such  a  factory  unit  is  typical  of  the  League 
organization  in  the  larger  cities.  Besides  the 
strictly  industrial  group,  there  are  usually 
eight  broad  divisions,  any  one  of  which  may  be 
important  enough  to  have  an  assistant  bureau 
chief,  and  several  captains,  lieutenants,  and  in- 
dividual units.  These  divisions  take  in  the  real 
estate,  financial,  insurance,  and  professional 
groups,  the  hotels,  transportation  companies, 
public  utilities,  and  merchandising  interests — 
wholesale,  retail,  and  mail-order.  And  the  in- 
dustries alone  may  be  numerous  and  powerful 
enough  to  call  for  separate  divisions — munitions, 
packers'  products,  food  stuffs,  war  equipment, 
metal    trades,    lumber,    motor    cars,    electrical 

204 


THE  AMERICAN  PROTECTIVE  LEAGUE 

machinery  and  supplies,  chemicals  and  paints, 
and  so  on.  It  all  depends  on  how  numerous 
and  how  large  are  the  establishments  in  each 
line.  Outside  the  larger  cities  territorial  organi- 
zation is  the  rule.  When  the  district  is  identified 
with  some  industry  of  special  value  in  war, 
like  mining,  lumbering,  or  cattle  raising,  protec- 
tion of  that  industry  may  be  the  chief  function 
of  the  League. 

Not  only  does  the  classified  method  of  or- 
ganization help  each  trade  and  profession  to 
police  itself;  it  greatly  facilitates  important 
inquiries.  For  example,  suppose  that  the  Gov- 
ernment wants  to  find  and  learn  the  local  errand 
of  a  visiting  electrical  engineer  with  a  German 
name  and  considerable  cash  whom  it  has  had 
under  surveillance  elsewhere.  On  being  asked 
for  a  report,  the  League's  local  Chief  assigns  the 
case  to  one  of  his  deputies.  The  latter  notifies 
the  supervisors  of  the  various  hotel  units  to 
watch  out  for  the  stranger,  report  his  arrival, 
and  keep  watch  of  his  letters  and  telephone 
calls.  He  also  communicates  with  the  head  of 
the  professional  division  and  asks  that  an 
electrical  engineer  be  detailed  on  the  case. 

When  the  suspect  has  been  located  and  the 
hotel  supervisor  has  transmitted  any  other  in- 
formation he  has  been  able  to  get,  the  engineer 
member  begins  work.     Going  to  the  hotel  he 

205 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

finds  or  makes  a  way  to  become  acquainted  with 
the  stranger,  offers  him  the  usual  professional 
courtesies,  and  gives  him  a  chance  to  suggest 
why  he  is  in  town  or  whom  he  wants  to  see. 
Direct  questions  are  not  asked,  of  course,  since 
they  would  put  the  stranger  on  his  guard.  After 
he  has  carried  the  inquiry  as  far  as  he  can,  the 
engineer  member  quietly  and  casually  goes  his 
way,  unless  the  stranger  has  accepted  his  offers 
of  help  or  hospitality. 

If  the  suspect  has  ''covered  up"  more  than 
an  honest  engineer  should,  he  is  systematically 
shadowed  by  other  League  operatives  during 
the  remainder  of  his  stay.  Walking  out  or 
staying  in  his  room,  travelling  in  taxicabs  or  in 
street  cars,  making  business  calls  or  social  calls, 
one  or  more  of  his  two  ''shadows"  would 
probably  keep  him  in  sight  and  make  memo- 
randa regarding  every  person  he  met  and  spoke 
with  and  every  significant  circumstance  that 
took  place.  Only  when  in  a  private  house  or 
in  his  hotel  room  would  he  escape  observation 
— and  even  then  a  fairly  close  tab  would  be 
kept  on  what  he  was  doing. 

A  record  would  be  made  of  every  telephone 
call,  every  telegram,  every  letter  received,  with 
particular  reference  to  the  postmark,  dates, 
and  the  return  cards  on  the  envelopes.  His 
baggage  would   be  inventoried   and   described, 

206 


THE  AMERICAN  PROTECTIVE  LEAGUE 

even  to  its  hotel  labels,  its  character,  and  its 
probable  price  and  origin.  When  he  finally 
departed,  if  the  porter  bought  his  tickets  for  him 
or  whether  he  purchased  them  himself  at  the 
station,  his  route,  and  his  first  destination — 
all  would  be  matters  of  history.  One  of  his 
"shadows'*  would  even  see  him  safely  past  the 
last  suburban  stop  from  which  he  might  double 
back  to  the  city  or  to  a  waiting  confederate. 

This  seems  a  mighty  pother  to  make  about 
an  apparently  innocent  traveller.  But  the 
League  prefers  to  work  overtime  and  play  safe. 
The  narratives  of  some  of  the  "tailings"  would 
make  marvellous  reading  if  they  only  led  up  to 
the  proper  dramatic  climax.  Many  of  them 
do — but  those  are  not  to  be  talked  about  yet 
awhile.  And  the  others  are  significant  only  be- 
cause they  are  the  records  of  uninteresting  tasks 
as  faithfully  executed  as  though  the  sheltering 
doorway  or  hotel  lobby  chair  were  a  listening 
post  in  France. 

Remember  that  these  tasks  were  made  both 
complex  and  difficult  by  the  lack  of  laws  de- 
fining espionage,  disloyalty,  and  sedition  as 
punishable  crimes.  That  ancient  act  of  1798 
could  be  invoked  for  the  internment  of  danger- 
ous enemy  aliens.  But  an  American  citizen, 
native  or  naturalized,  could  spit  treason  and 
plot  trouble  unchecked  so  long  as  he  did  not 

207 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

run  foul  of  the  civil  or  the  criminal  code.  That 
is  all  changed  now;  the  amended  Espionage  and 
Sedition  Law,  signed  by  the  President  in  June, 
191 7,  is  so  broad  and  has  such  a  fine  set  of  ser- 
viceable teeth  that  no  disloyal  citizen  or  un- 
friendly alien  can  escape  the  penalty  if  his  guilt 
can  be  proved. 

P^or  more  than  a  year,  however,  the  League 
was  compelled  not  only  to  prove  a  citizen*s 
pro-German  activities;  it  had  also  to  find  a  way 
to  punish  them,  or  at  least  to  discourage  them. 
Every  inquiry  into  such  a  case,  therefore,  had 
to  be  supplemented  by  an  effort  to  find  evidence 
of  an  oflfense  against  the  civil  or  criminal  statutes. 
A.nd  where  this  failed,  a  good  old-fasliioned 
** talking  to"  often  had  the  desired  effect. 

Hatred  of  ''Prussian  militarism"  and  pre- 
tended allegiance  to  the  United  States  were  the 
favourite  pose  of  many  propagandists  whom  the 
League  rounded  up  and  secured  billets  for  in 
various  internment  camps.  Most  of  these  had 
taken  out  their  first  naturalization  papers; 
except  in  a  few  middle  and  western  states  like 
Nebraska,  where  ''first  papers"  and  six  months 
of  residence  confer  the  right  to  vote,  this  was 
no  protection  when  evidence  of  disloyalty  or  pro- 
German  activity  was  adduced  against  them. 

Typical  of  this  class  was  the  case  of  an  Aus- 
trian officer  of  reserves  who  was  six  months 

208 


THE  AMERICAN  PROTECTIVE  LEAGUE 

under  investigation  before  he  was  arrested. 
Like  so  many  other  interned  Teutons,  his  entry 
into  the  United  States  had  been  by  way  of  the 
Argentine.  Traced  back,  it  was  discovered  that 
he  had  reported  to  the  Austrian  Consul  in 
Buenos  Aires  as  an  officer  of  reserves  at  the 
first  mobiHzation  call,  July  27,  1914;  and  again 
when  he  sailed  for  the  United  States  with  a 
false  Swedish  passport  in  191 5.  Then,  in  suc- 
cession, he  had  registered  at  the  San  Francisco, 
St.  Louis,  and  Chicago  consulates — at  the  last 
on  September  30, 1915. 

In  less  than  six  months,  however,  he  had 
applied  for  naturalization  papers  and  was  ar- 
ranging to  return  to  Buenos  Aires  as  selling 
agent  for  several  American  houses.  When  the 
State  Department  denied  him  a  passport,  he 
devised  another  means  of  keeping  watch  of 
American  efforts  to  supplant  German  houses 
in  the  South  American  markets.  This  was  an 
export  information  bureau,  but  his  information 
was  not  live  enough  to  hold  his  clients  long. 
Next  he  projected  a  $2,ooo,cxx)  corporation  to 
take  over  and  operate  the  German  interned 
steamships  at  New  York.  By  turns  also  he 
was  advertising  solicitor  and  automobile  sales- 
man. 

The  occupation  he  followed  always  allowed 
him  maximum  freedom  in  moving  about  and  a 

209 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

plausible  excuse  for  approaching  almost  any 
one  he  wanted  to  reach.  Very  early  in  the 
inquiry,  his  defenselessness  appeared;  he  had 
entered  the  country  under  a  false  passport  and 
could  be  arrested  whenever  the  Department  of 
Justice  chose  to  move.  Because  he  had  arrived 
in  San  Francisco  eighteen  months  before  our 
declaration  of  war,  he  was  given  the  benefit 
of  the  doubt.  Not  until  his  character  as  a 
dangerous  enemy  alien  had  been  established  was 
he  interned.  He  will  be  deported  at  the  end 
of  the  war. 

Different  in  detail,  but  similar  in  character 
and  outcome,  was  the  Odyssey  of  a  missionary 
of  German  culture,  whose  earnings  were  as 
nominal  as  his  expenditures  were  excessive. 
Arriving  in  New  York  in  19 12,  also  by  way  of 
the  Argentine,  he  had  spent  the  intervening 
time  travelling  about  the  country^  in  various 
roles  which  would  bring  him  in  contact  with 
rich  Americans  of  German  birth  or  blood.  At 
various  times  he  was  a  dealer  in  pictures,  in 
stocks  and  bonds,  and  in  subscription  editions 
of  the  German  classics. 

As  a  side  line,  he  seems  to  have  been  check- 
ing up  American  efforts  to  develop  sources  of 
potash,  Germany's  one  great  monopoly  in  min- 
erals. He  even  engaged  himself  as  stock  sales- 
man   for    an    Eastern    company   organized    to 

210 


THE  AMERICAN  PROTECTIVE  LEAGUE 

extract  potash  from  the  Pacific  kelp  fields  and 
made  at  least  one  trip  to  the  coast  to  study  that 
new  industry.  Always  his  scale  of  living  was 
far  in  excess  of  his  earnings  from  such  sources 
of  income  as  could  be  traced.  After  a  long  and 
patient  inquiry — covering  nearly  eight  months 
from  the  time  the  man's  pro-German  utterances 
were  first  reported — he  was  finally  interned  for 
the  duration  of  the  war. 

Enemy  aliens  have  not  been  alone  in  keeping 
League  members  up  at  night.  Far  more  numer- 
ous have  been  the  investigations  bearing  upon 
the  character  and  loyalty  of  American  citizens, 
particularly  candidates  for  commissions  in  the 
Army  and  Navy  and  applicants  for  civilian 
service  in  positions  of  trust.  Still  a  third  class 
of  inquiries  which  have  lacked  the  thrill  of 
espionage  cases  have  been  the  thousands  of 
investigations  made  of  claims  for  exemption  or 
deferred  classification  under  the  selective  service 
law. 

Anything  like  a  divided  allegiance,  of  course, 
would  destroy  the  usefulness  of  an  army  or 
naval  officer — if,  indeed,  it  did  not  make  him 
a  positive  menace  to  his  country.  Every  char- 
acter and  loyalty  inquiry,  therefore,  has  this 
background  of  danger,  especially  when  the  sub- 
ject is  of  German  or  of  Austrian  ancestry.  And 
sometimes  the  League  operative  must  have  a 

211 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

keen  scent  for  significant  minor  details  to  detect 
the  danger  signal. 

For  instance,  one  of  the  candidates  for  a 
recent  special  officers'  training  camp  was  a 
young  Cincinnati  man  with  a  German  name. 
Fie  was  a  citizen,  of  draft  age,  of  such  intelli- 
gence, experience,  and  physique  that  his  ac- 
ceptance was  a  foregone  conclusion  if  his  loyalty 
were  assured.  Investigation  showed  him  to  have 
been  pro-German  in  his  sympathies  before  our 
declaration  of  war,  and  practically  silent 
on  war  subjects  since.  His  attitude  was  correct; 
and  his  application  for  training  was  a  positive 
count  in  his  favour.  But  the  League  investigator, 
digging  around  for  information,  learned  that  his 
man  had  been  a  contributor  to  a  fund  raised 
by  a  Gaelic  newspaper  for  the  defence  of  Sir 
Roger  Casement,  when  that  famous  Irish  rebel 
was  on  trial  in  London. 

If  the  man  had  been  of  Irish  blood,  such  a  con- 
tribution would  have  had  little  significance; 
natural  sympathy  for  a  compatriot  in  trouble 
might  have  prompted  it.  Such  an  act  by  a 
German  or  an  American,  however,  suggested 
more  than  a  passing  interest  in  the  violent  pro- 
German,  anti-English  propaganda  which  this 
particular  weekly  exploited.  Verifying  the  story 
by  reference  to  the  files  of  the  newspaper,  the 
investigator  called  attention  to  the  fact  in  his 

212 


'  THE  AMERICAN  PROTECTIVE  LEAGUE 

report,  and  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  candi- 
date wanted  a  commission  to  escape  the  draft 
and  that  he  lacked  the  whole-hearted  loyalty  and 
enthusiasm  an  Army  officer  must  have  to  be  suc- 
cessful. And,  as  the  final  decision  coincided  with 
the  investigator's,  the  application  was  refused. 

Another  incident — double-barrelled  in  its  effect 
— has  also  its  humorous  side.  One  of  the 
Chicago  League  officials  picked  up  two  deserters 
on  Michigan  Avenue  early  one  evening  last 
December.  Neither  had  an  overcoat,  one  had 
evidently  '* hocked"  his  blouse  to  provide  food 
or  drink.  The  League  man  knew  he  must 
turn  them  over  to  the  police,  but  the  boys 
were  so  cold  and  wretched  that  he  determined 
to  give  them  a  good  dinner  before  surrendering 
them. 

At  his  club,  his  '* guests"  created  a  certain 
amount  of  stir — and  seemed  to  enjoy  it.  They 
*' didn't  miss  a  station  from  soup  to  cigarettes," 
as  one  of  them  expressed  it.  They  were  finishing 
up  when  a  young  man  in  a  captain's  uniform 
came  over  and  interjected  himself  into  the  feast. 

''Excuse  me,"  he  began  as  the  host  arose, 
"may  I  ask  what  your  interest  in  these  men  is?" 

His  tone  was  a  shade  too  crisp,  even  for  so 
young  a  captain. 

"May  I  ask  yours?"  the  League  man  count- 
ered. 

213 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

"rm  in  command  of  the  provost  guard  in 
Chicago,"  the  other  declared.  *'It's  my  busi- 
ness to  look  after  deserters/' 

It  was  a  fatal  bit  of  brag.  The  League  man 
knew  the  provost  marshal — knew  this  fellow 
was  an  imposter.     But  one  job  at  a  time. 

"I  know  these  chaps  and  Fm  looking  after 
them,"  he  answered.  "Come  along,  boys." 
And  they  departed  in  the  olive  splendour  of  a 
taxicab.  Then  it  pulled  up  a  little  later  before 
a  red  light,  and  a  policeman  opened  the  door. 
The  lads  were  crestfallen  but  game. 

''It  was  bully  while  it  lasted,"  they  declared. 
''Anyway,  they'd  have  got  us  sooner  or  later." 

Before  noon  next  day  the  youthful  pseudo- 
captain  was  wiping  his  tears  away  and  explain- 
ing w^hy  he  had  been  impersonating  an  officer. 
There  was  a  group  of  musical  comedy  girls  in 
the  foreground  and  a  trail  of  forged  checks  and 
unpaid  club  and  hotel  bills  in  the  background. 
He  is  learning  in  Leavenworth  prison,  now,  that 
the  lion's  skin  is  dangerous  apparel  and  that 
discretion  is  the  better  part  of  a  masquerade. 

The  League  files  are  crammed  with  reports 
which  have  blacker  themes — or  the  scarlet 
motive  which  stands  for  constructive  treason. 
There  are  folders  that  deal  with  reported  graft 
in  the  purchase  of  materials  for  Army  camps 
and    subsequent    fires   which    covered    up   the 

214 


THE  AMERICAN  PROTECTIVE  LEAGUE 

scanting  of  buildings.  There  are  others  on  cases 
of  undue  influence  brought  to  bear  on  members 
of  exemption  boards;  and  sickening  instances  of 
"quacks"  who  have  ruined  strong  but  cow- 
ardly young  bodies  for  blood  money.  There 
are  tales  of  extortion  by  shyster  lawyers  for 
filling  out  questionnaires — and  other  tales  of 
money  paid  by  enemy  aliens  to  disreputable 
"fixers"  for  pretended  protection  against  the 
draft. 

The  mere  classified  index  of  the  master  file 
at  Washington  intrigues  the  imagination.  Just 
a  glance  at  the  main  "guides"  will  indicate 
the  range : 

Enemy  aliens 
Unfriendly  neutrals 
"First-paper"  aliens 
Disloyal  citizens 
Pro-German  "radicals" 

Native-born 

Naturalized 
Disloyal  Government  employees 
Possible   spies  or  German   agents 
Pro-German  applicants  for  Government  positions 
Citizens  or  aliens  living  in  luxury  without  visible  sources 

of  income 
Suspicious  foreigners 
Enemy  propaganda 

(Twenty  sub-heads  here) 
Enemy  alien  funds 
Alien  extortion  cases 

2IS 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

I.  W.  W.  agitators 

Check  of  jury  panels  to  keep  out  pro-Germans 

Incendiary  fires  in  war-material  plants 

Wireless  stations 

Bomb  and  dynamite  cases 

Passport  applicants 

Seditious  utterances 

Seditious  publications 

Seditious  meetings 

Anti-military  activities 

Organizations  to  resist  draft 

Attempted  draft  evasions 

False  exemption  claims 

Physical  disability 

Dependent  relatives 
Desertion  of  wife  to  enlist  in  Army 
Fraudulent  claims  of  marriage 
Army  deserters 
Impersonation  of  officers 
Sale  of  liquor  to  soldiers  and  sailors 
Sale  of  narcotics  to  men  in  service 
Hotel  surveillance  of  doubtful  transients 
Liberty  Bond  and  Red  Cross  slackers 
Theft  of  Red  Cross  supplies 
Hoarding  of  foods 
Destruction  of  foods 
Character  and  loyalty  of  applicants  for  commissions 

In  making  these  investigations  the  League 
has  cooperated,  not  only  with  the  Department 
of  Justice,  but  also  with  Army  Intelligence, 
Navy  Intelligence,  the  Alien  Property  Custodian, 
the  Food  Administration,  the  Shipping  Board, 

216 


THE  AMERICAN  PROTECTIVE  LEAGUE 

the  Red  Cross,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  with  various 
other  offices  at  Washington. 

The  number  and  variety  of  cases  handled 
have  not  constituted  the  major  service  of  the 
League,  however.  Rather,  it  has  been  the 
character  and  intelligence  of  the  membership — 
the  ability  to  enter  and  comb  any  social,  pro- 
fessional, or  business  circle  for  information 
without  betraying  that  an  inquiry  was  afoot. 
From  this  angle  alone  the  original  idea  was 
pretty  close  to  an  inspiration,  since  it  impro- 
vised in  the  hour  of  need  such  an  organization 
as  not  even  a  generation  of  effort  and  many 
million  dollars  could  have  built  up. 

Just  because  it  was  improvised  and  Its  per- 
sonnel kept  secret,  the  League  could  meet  the 
most  dangerous  German  agents  on  their  own 
ground  and  paralyze  their  efforts  by  keeping 
them  guessing.  Propaganda  dies  on  the  lips 
of  the  man  who  can't  be  certain  that  his  listener 
is  not  making  mental  notes  for  an  official  re- 
port of  the  conversation.  And  the  most  subtle 
scheme  of  spying  or  sabotage  is  bound  to  drag 
when  the  plot  master  is  harassed  by  doubts 
of  the  native-born  or  naturalized  accomplices 
he  must  enlist  for  its  execution. 

One  instance  to  show  how  much  a  local  or- 
ganization must  depend  upon  its  specialists. 
Last  summer  it  became  necessary  to  know  be- 

217 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

yond  question  whether  or  not  a  prominent 
young  German-American  in  a  seaboard  city 
was  supplying  the  funds  for  the  local  agitation 
against  the  draft.  Suspicion  attached  to  him 
because  he  spent  many  evenings  aboard  his 
fast-racing  schooner  in  the  yacht  club  harbour, 
and  could  not  be  induced,  in  any  polite  and 
casual  way,  to  invite  any  of  the  League's  yacht- 
ing members  aboard.  His  crew,  two  Scandi- 
navians, were  as  voluble  as  oysters. 

The  schooner  was  being  tuned  up  for  the 
annual  club  cruise  late  in  July.  Two  extra  sail- 
ors would  be  needed  for  the  race.  The  League 
provided  one  of  them.  An  upstanding  young 
American,  too  young  for  the  first  officers'  train- 
ing camp  but  in  line  for  the  second,  was  taken 
into  the  League,  carefully  coached,  and  turned 
loose  in  the  harbour  with  a  loaned  cat-boat  to 
impress  the  German-American  skipper  with  his 
sailing  skill.  The  boy  finessed  his  approach 
successfully  and  was  asked  to  train  with  the 
crew.  But  he  found  nothing  material  to  report 
until  the  schooner  had  actually  w^on  the  big 
race. 

That  night  after  the  victory  had  been  cele- 
brated in  a  flood  of  champagne,  which  he  alone 
avoided,  he  quietly  went  through  all  the  private 
papers  in  the  owner's  cabin,  made  notes,  or 
copied   all   that   referred   in   any  way  to   pro- 

218 


THE  AMERICAN  PROTECTIVE  LEAGUE 

German  activities  and  returned  by  rail  to  the 
home  port  next  morning.  It  turned  out  that 
the  owner  had  been  guilty  of  no  real  disloyalty, 
though  he  had  skirted  the  edge  more  than  once; 
but  his  papers  pointed  straight  to  the  real  source 
of  the  propaganda  and  the  latter  was  speedily 
apprehended. 

Another  interesting  case  was  that  of  a  noted 
pro-German  "pacifist"  who  for  months  was 
kept  under  surveillance  without  evidence  being 
secured  which  would  bring  a  conviction  under 
the  existing  law.  He  had  declared  again  and 
again  that  nine  out  of  ten  Americans  were 
opposed  to  the  war;  that  thousands  of  armed 
men  in  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  and  western 
Texas  were  only  waiting  for  the  signal  to  rise 
against  the  Government;  that  another  thousand 
in  New  York  City  were  watching  for  the  same 
signal  and  a  leader.  He  even  intimated  that 
he  had  been  asked  to  be  that  leader.  And 
though  the  League  could  account  for  every 
hour  of  his  time,  knew  every  citizen  and  Con- 
gressman he  had  conferred  with  and  most  of 
the  folk  he  had  written  to,  it  was  December 
before  an  indictment  could  be  secured  against 
him. 

That  this  man  is  still  at  liberty,  on  bail, 
until  the  courts  reach  the  hearing  of  his  case 
is  only  a  detail.     The  compensating  facts  are 

219 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

that  he  served  the  League  for  some  time  as  a 
stalking  horse  for  other  citizens  and  ahens  of 
doubtful  loyalty — that  ultimately  the  close 
watch  on  him  cut  down  his  activities — and 
that  under  the  amended  espionage  law  any 
one  of  a  hundred  things  he  did  or  said  would 
land  him  quickly  in  a  Federal  prison. 

In  the  application  of  the  Selective  Service 
Act  the  League  has  taken  off  the  shoulders  of 
the  Government  one  of  its  heaviest  and  most 
important  tasks.  The  draft  was  and  is  a 
favoured  field  of  German  agents,  who  have 
played  upon  ignorance  and  prejudice,  religious 
and  union  labour  fears,  racial  antipathies,  and 
the  baser  emotions  of  cupidity  and  cowardice. 
They  have  utilized  every  device  to  persuade 
men  to  avoid  their  military  obligations  to  the 
country.  To  the  League  is  assigned  the  task 
of  checking  up  all  claims  for  exemptions  and 
all  failures  to  appear  before  exemption  boards. 
This  work,  especially  in  the  cities,  has  entailed 
enormous  labour. 

Space  forbids  a  complete  review  of  the  League, 
but  at  least  a  paragraph  may  be  inserted  about 
its  organization,  which  is  a  model  of  simplicity 
and  flexibility.  The  League  creates  and  is  re- 
sponsible for  its  own  organization  in  all  of  its 
branches.  Executive  control  of  the  organi- 
zation   is    centred    in    a    Board    of    National 

220 


THE  AMERICAN  PROTECTIVE  LEAGUE 

Directors  operating  from  National  Headquar- 
ters at  Washington,  D.  C,  in  cooperation  with 
the  Attorney-General  and  the  officials  of  the 
Bureau  of  Investigation  of  the  Department  of 
Justice,  and  through  the  latter  with  other  de- 
partments and  agencies  of  the  Government. 

In  each  local  office  the  chief  is  supreme.  He 
investigates  his  own  men,  invites  them  to  join, 
and  directs  their  work.  As  already  stated, 
there  is  a  double  organization  of  the  local 
field — a  classified  organization  of  trades,  pro- 
fessions, industries,  hotels,  large  individual  es- 
tablishments, and  office  buildings;  and  a  Bureau 
of  Investigation  whose  organization  is  territorial. 
Uniform  blanks  for  reports  and  records  are  made 
up  after  models  supplied  by  national  headquar- 
ters, and  uniform  methods  of  making  investi- 
gations are  adopted.  This  simple  plan  allows 
each  local  organization  to  select  the  types  of 
men  that  best  suit  its  needs  and  to  adapt  itself 
entirely  to  local  conditions,  while  maintaining 
at  the  same  time  complete  touch  and  coopera- 
tion with  other  communities,  with  the  national 
organization,  and  with  the  Government. 

The  success  of  the  League  is  attested  by 
Attorney-General  Thomas  W.  Gregory  himself. 
In  his  annual  report  to  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  he  said  of  the  League:  "It  has 
proved  to  be  invaluable  and  constitutes  a  most 

221 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

important  auxiliary  and  reserve  force  for  the 
Bureau  of  Investigation.  .  .  .  This  organ- 
ization has  been  of  the  greatest  possible  aid  in 
thousands  of  cases.  ...  Its  work  has  been 
performed  in  a  thoroughly  commendable  manner 
with  a  minimum  of  friction  and  complaint  and 
with  motives  of  the  highest  patriotism.  It  is  a 
self-supporting  organization,  and  it  would  be 
difficult  to  exaggerate  the  value  of  its  service 
to  the  United  States  Department  of  Justice." 


222 


CHAPTER  X 
The  German-Hindu  Conspiracy 

THE  German-Hindu  plot  to  foment  revo- 
lution in  India  is  an  international  drama 
with  touches  of  ** Treasure  Island"  adventure 
in  the  South  Seas.  The  characters  include  Zim- 
mermann,  many  German  agents  in  the  United 
States  (among  them  Bernstorff),  some  venal 
Americans,  and  a  horde  of  Hindus — some  of 
them  ardent  fanatics  and  some  plain  grafters. 
The  climax  produced  several  executions,  one 
suicide,  two  cases  of  insanity,  and  a  murder. 
The  production  cost  the  Germans  more  than  a 
million  dollars,  and  the  net  receipts  were  a 
deficit.  The  scenes  were  laid  in  Berlin,  Con- 
stantinople, Switzerland,  New  York,  Washing- 
ton, Chicago,  San  Francisco,  Socorro  Island, 
Honolulu,  Manila,  Java,  Japan,  China,  Siam, 
and  India.  The  last  act  was  laid  in  a  Federal 
penitentiary. 

Writing  from  San  Francisco,  on  November  4, 
1916,  Wilhelm  von  Brincken,  the  military  attache 
of  the  German  Consulate,  addressed  a  letter  to 
his  father  to  be  ''transmitted  through  the  sub- 

223 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

marine  DctUschland  on  its  second  voyage  from 
the  United  States."  The  letter  was  never  de- 
Hvered;  its  boastful  first  paragraph  and  its  later 
candid  text  were  read  only  by  agents  of  the 
United  States  Government.  Von  Brincken  be- 
gan: 

My  Dear  Father:  At  last  an  opportunity  presents  it- 
self to  send  an  uncensored  letter  to  all  of  you.  May  the 
carrier,  Germany's  pride,  have  a  happy  voyage  and  reach 
the  home  shore  unscathed. 

He  then  launched  into  bitter  criticism  of  his 
treatment  at  the  Consulate,  complaining  es- 
pecially of  its  niggardly  support  of  his  work. 
Then  he  wrote  (the  italics  are  mine): 

As  you  know,  I  am  the  head  and  organizer  of  the  Hindu 
Nationalists  on  the  Pacific,  Revolutionary  and  propa- 
ganda work  costs  money — much  money.  Berlin  knows 
that  and  does  not  economize.  The  Consul  General  [¥T<inz 
Bopp]  also  is  under  instructions  to  support  the  movement  to 
the  best  of  his  ability  and  to  further  it  financially.  How- 
ever, there  is  a  shortcoming  in  this  respect.  Whenever 
money  Is  urgently  needed  and  I  report  to  that  effect,  I 
invariably  meet  with  the  same  opposition.  In  ninety-nine 
cases  out  of  a  hundred,  the  required  amount  is  refused. 
As  a  result,  the  work  suffers,  is  delayed,  good  opportuni- 
ties are  missed,  and  my  people — the  Hindus — are  fre- 
quently exposed  to  danger  of  their  lives.  Just  how  many 
fell  Into  the  hands  of  the  English  and  were  hung,  owing  to 
unnecessary  lack  of  funds.  Is,  of  course,  wholly  beyond 
our  calculation.  The  "old  man"  evidently  dislikes  this 
type  of  work  and,  therefore,  has  no  understanding  for  it. 

224 


THE  GERMAN-HINDU  CONSPIRACY 

The  other  day  a  Hindu  was  here,  who  came  directly  from 
Switzerland,  as  messenger  from  Mr.  Fon  JVesendonck,  of 
the  Foreign  Office  {who  has  charge  of  Hindu  matters  there). 
This  Hindu  wondered  why  work  in  San  Francisco  dragged 
in  such  a  manner  and  I  told  him  quite  frankly  that  if  the 
Hindu  work  were  not  reorganized  from  the  ground  up,  and 
made  independent  of  the  Consulate,  the  work  would  not 
only  suffer  but  half  of  it  would  be  harmful.  - 

Later  in  the  letter  he  says: 

My  Hindu  described  Wesendonck  as  a  particularly 
pleasing  and  fine  person. 

These  extracts  were  written  in  November  of 

1916.     They  illuminate  an    earlier   cable    from 

Von    Wesendonck's     chief,    Zimmermann    (the 

German  Foreign  Minister  in  Berlin)  written  in 

February  of  1916  to  Bernstorff  at  Washington, 

which  was  '*  transmitted  respectfully  for  your 

information"  to  Von  Papen  in  New  York,  and 

which  reads  as  follows: 

Berlin,  Feb.  4,  19 16. 
The  German  Embassy, 

Washington. 

In  future  all  Indian  affairs  are  to  be  exclusively  handled 
by  the  Committee  to  be  formed  by  Dr.  Chakravarty. 
Dhriendra  Sarkar  and  Heramba  Lai  Gupta,  which  latter 
person  has  meantime  been  expelled  from  Japan,  thus 
cease  to  be  independent  representatives  of  the  Indian 
Independence  Committee  existing  here. 

Zimmermann. 

In  other  words,  before  February,  1916,  the 
German  Government   had  been  plotting  with 

225 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

Hindus  in  the  United  States  for  the  national 
independence  of  India.  Indeed,  they  had  begun 
the  work  before  1914,  and  they  had  become 
active  in  it  in  July  of  that  year — before  they 
started  the  World  War,  but  after  they  had  de- 
cided to  start  it.  By  December,  they  were 
directing  Indian  plots  from  Berlin  with  rami- 
fications in  nearly  every  neutral  country  in  the 
world.  Two  of  these  plots  were  hatched  in  the 
United  States — one  in  San  Francisco  and  one 
in  Chicago.  They  were  conspiracies  to  organize 
military  expeditions  to  India.  Our  Govern- 
ment spoiled  both  of  them,  and  the  day  after 
we  went  into  the  war,  or  on  April  7,  191 7,  the 
United  States'  authorities  arrested  thirty-four 
German-Hindu  plotters  in  half  a  dozen  cities 
and  subsequently  convicted  them  all  but  one 
of  conspiracy. 

The  story  begins  in  San  Francisco.  In  191 1, 
a  fanatical  Indian  agitator  named  Har  Dayal 
came  to  this  country.  He  worked  among  the 
large  colonies  of  turbaned  Hindu  labourers  on  the 
Pacific  Coast  who  had  succeeded  the  Chinese 
and  Japanese  coolies  in  the  orchards  and  gardens 
and  on  the  railroad  tracks  in  that  region  of 
abundant  climate  and  scarce  labour.  Dayal  or- 
ganized the  Hindu  Pacific  Coast  Association  and 
established  its  headquarters  in  San  Francisco, 
to  which  these  men  came  looking  for  a  job  or  a 

226 


THE  GERMAN-HINDU  CONSPIRACY 

night'*s  lodging,  and  where  they  were  fed  on 
rice  and  revolution.  Dayal  next  established  a 
printing  plant  and  began  to  publish  a  paper 
called  Ghadr,  which  means  The  Revolution.  The 
Ghadr  was  out  for  blood.  It  preached  Hindu 
uprising  in  terms  of  assassination  and  dynamite. 
The  first  number  of  the  Ghadr  was  published 
in  November,  191 3.  At  once  it  disclosed  a  Ger- 
man influence.     In  the  issue  of  November  15, 

1913,  it  printed  these  sentences:  ''The  Germans 
have  great  sympathy  with  our  movement,  be- 
cause they  and  ourselves  have  a  common  enemy 
(the  English).  In  the  future  Germany  can 
draw  assistance  from  us,  and  they  can  render 
us  great  assistance  also.'' 

As  the  World  War  approached,  this  German 
influence  became  more  manifest.    On  July  21, 

1914,  two  days  before  Austria's  ultimatum  to 
Serbia,  the  Ghadr  said : 

"All  intelligent  people  know  that  Germany  is 
an  enemy  of  England.  We  also  are  mortal 
enemies  of  England.  So  the  enemy  of  our 
enemy  is  our  friend." 

A  week  later,  the  Ghadr  welcomed  the  ap- 
proach of  war: 

**If  this  war  does  not  start  to-day,  it  will 
to-morrow.  So  welcome!  India  has  got  her 
chance.  .  .  .  Hasten  preparations  for  meet- 
ing with  the  speed  of  wind  and  storm,  and  no 

227 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

sooner  the  war  starts  in  Europe,  you  start  a 
mutiny  in  India/' 

And  on  August  4th  it  declared: 

"O  Warriors!  The  opportunity  that  you 
have  been  searching  for  years  has  come  .  .  . 
there  is  hope  that  Germany  will  help  you/' 

In  all  this  the  United  States  had  no  interest. 
We  were  neutral,  and  what  Germany  did  to 
England  was  (we  thought)  England's  lookout. 
Also,  we  were  "the  asylum  of  the  oppressed" 
and  *'the  home  of  free  speech" — and  if  the 
Hindus  thought  they  ought  to  talk  revolution 
we  were  not  concerned.  It  was  not  until  the 
Hindus  and  the  Germans  started  "gun  running" 
from  our  West  Coast  that  we  took  a  hand. 

Har  Dayal,  nevertheless,  was  too  ferocious 
even  for  the  home  of  free  speech.  Early  in 
1914,  he  made  speeches  so  villainously  offensive 
to  common  decency  and  order  that  he  was 
arrested  and  held. for  deportation  on  the  ground 
of  being  an  undesirable  alien.  He  jumped  bail 
in  March  and  fled — to  Berlin.  He  arrived  there 
about  the  time  the  war  clouds  began  to  darken 
the  skies  of  Europe,  and  found  a  sympathetic 
haven  in  the  German  Foreign  Office.  In  com- 
pany with  other  Hindu  revolutionists,  and  under 
the  fostering  care  of  Von  Wesendonck,  he  or- 
ganized that  "Indian  Independence  Committee 
existing   here"  of  which    Zimmermann    spoke 

228 


THE  GERMAN-HINDU  CONSPIRACY 

affectionately  in  his  cable  to  Bernstorff,  already 
quoted. 

In  Har  DayaFs  place  in  San  Francisco  arose 
another  Hindu  revolutionary  leader,  one  Ram 
Chandra.  He  succeeded  to  the  management  of 
the  Hindu  Pacific  Coast  Association,  to  the 
editorship  of  the  Ghadr,  and  to  the  sympathetic 
understanding  with  the  German  agents  in  San 
Francisco.  These  German  agents  were  Bopp, 
the  consul-general,  and  his  staff,  of  whom  Von 
Brincken,  the  military  attache,  was  the  agent 
with  whom  all  personal  dealings  were  carried 
on.  Of  the  scores  of  Hindus  with  unpro- 
nounceable names  and  of  their  noisy  speeches 
and  noisome  writings,  there  is  no  need  to  make 
record.  But  the  warlike  activities  of  the  Hindus 
and  their  German  friends  were  important,  dan- 
gerous, and  interesting. 

On  January  9,  191 5,  W.  C.  Hughes,  of  103 
Duane  Street,  New  York,  shipped  ten  carloads 
of  freight  to  San  Diego,  Cal.  The  freight  bill 
was  heavy — $11,783.74 — and  it  was  prepaid  by 
a  check  on  the  Guaranty  Trust  Company, 
signed  by  a  German  named  Hans  Tauscher. 
This  German  was  the  well-known  American 
agent  of  Krupps,  and  it  later  developed  that 
the  ten  carloads  of  freight  were  eight  thousand 
rifles  and  four  million  cartridges.  They  were 
sent  to  '*Juan  Bernardo  Bowen,"  in  care  of 

229 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

M.  Martinez  &  Company,  ship  brokers  of  San 
Diego. 

This  same  "Bowen,"  whose  home  address  was 
given  as  Topolobampo,  Mexico,  acting  through 
the  same  Martinez  &  Company,  on  January  19th, 
chartered  a  saihng  vessel  for  a  round  trip  from 
San  Diego  to  Topolobampo.  This  vessel  was 
the  Annie  Larsen,  The  charter  price  was 
$19,000,  and  this  money  was  paid  by  J.  Clyde 
Hizar,  of  San  Diego,  ''Bowen's"  attorney. 
Hizar  got  the  money  by  wire  from  a  bank  in 
San  Francisco,  which  in  turn  got  it  from  a 
woman  depositor,  who  in  turn  got  it  from  Von 
Brincken,  who  in  turn  got  it  from  the  German 
Consulate's  funds.  This  roundabout  method 
was,  of  course,  designed  to  conceal  the  German 
source  of  the  money. 

At  about  the  same  time,  a  company  was  or- 
ganized in  San  Francisco  to  buy  the  oil  tanker 
Maverick  from  the  Standard  Oil  Company. 
Fred  Jebsen,  former  lieutenant  in  the  German 
Navy,  put  up  the  money.  The  Maverick  was 
commanded  by  Captain  H.  C.  Nelson,  and  her 
movements  were  directed  by  a  young  American 
adventurer,  J.  B.  Starr-Hunt,  whom  Jebson 
put  aboard  as  super-cargo  (''super-cargo"  is  an 
agent  put  aboard  ship  by  the  owner  of  the  mer- 
chandise to  have  charge  of  the  cargo).  Parts  of 
a  statement  subsequently  made  by  young  Starr- 

230 


THE  GERMAN-HINDU  CONSPIRACY 

Hunt  tell  the  rest  of  the  story  of  the  Maverick 
and  the  Annie  Larsen : 

"I  was  born  in  San  Antonio,  Texas,  in  Novem- 
ber, 1892.  I  went  to  a  German  school  in  Mexico 
for  nine  years.  Then  I  was  at  Dr.  Holbrook's 
school  for  four  years  at  Ossining-on-Hudson, 
New  York.  I  was  then  for  a  year  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Virginia;  three  months  at  the  Univer- 
^sity  of  Pennsylvania  at  Philadelphia.  Besides 
this  I  always  had  private  tutors.  After  leaving 
the  last-named  college  I  joined  my  father's  law 
office  in  Mexico  City.  This  was  in  the  latter 
part  of  1912.  My  father  is  one  of  the  leading 
foreign  lawyers  in  Mexico.  In  December,  191 2, 
I  started  for  San  Francisco  to  join  F.  Jebsen 
&  Co.,  a  German  firm  of  shipping  agents.  I 
worked  in  Jebsen's  office  from  February,  191 3, 
to  April,  191 5;  that  is,  up  to  the  time  I  joined 
the  Maverick.  I  was  not  actually  in  Jebsen's 
office  all  this  time;  I  made  several  trips  to 
various  parts  of  the  U.  S.  A.  and  Mexico. 

*' About  1st  April,  1915,  while  I  was  at  Chihua- 
hua, I  got  a  telegram  from  Jebsen  asking  me  to 
proceed  at  once  to  Los  Angeles.  I  met  Jebsen 
there.  He  asked  me  if  I  cared  to  proceed  to 
San  Jose  del  Cabo  on  the  Maverick  and  then 
transfer  to  another  ship,  the  Annie  Larsen^ 
either  at  San  Jose  del  Cabo  or  at  any  other  point 
on  the  Mexican  coast.     He  told  me  that  the 

231 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

Anjiie  Larsens  cargo  consisted  of  war  material, 
which  was  to  be  transhipped  to  the  Maverick 
at  whatever  point  they  should  meet  in  Mexican 
or  Central  American  waters;  that  a  man  named 
Page  (I  do  not  remember  his  initials,  but  per- 
haps they  were  A.  W.)  who  would  be  on  the 
Annie  Larsen,  was  to  take  charge  of  the  Maverick, 
and  that  I  myself  was  to  take  over  the  Annie 
Larsen  and  proceed  to  trade  with  her  in  whatever 
manner  I  might  wish  to,  for  six  months,  between 
Mexican  or  Central  American  ports,  but  I  was 
not  to  return  to  any  American  port  until  after 
the  expiration  of  six  months.  He  did  not  tell 
me  why  the  Annie  Larsen  was  not  to  return  to 
an  American  port  for  six  months,  but  the 
reason  was  quite  clear  to  me.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  I  had  heard  while  I  was  in  Chihuahua 
that  the  Annie  Larsen  had  departed  from  San 
Diego  with  a  cargo  of  war  material,  presumably 
for  some  belligerent  faction  in  Mexico.  She 
had  cleared  from  San  Diego  for  Topolobampo. 
This  fact  had  given  rise  to  considerable  comment 
and  notoriety.  American  papers  had  taken  the 
matter  up,  and  the  several  arrests  of  Americans 
and  Mexicans  made  by  the  Government  in  San 
Diego  at  the  time  were  popularly  believed  to 
have  been  in  connection  with  the  Annie  Larsen 
and  her  cargo.  Evidently  Jebsen,  therefore, 
thought  that,  if  the  Annie  Larsen  returned  im- 

232 


THE  GERMAN-HINDU  CONSPIRACY 

mediately  to  an  American  port,  complications 
might  arise.  Jebsen  was  not  explicit  as  to  either 
the  destination,  or  the  purpose,  of  the  cargo. 
One  thing  I  was,  however,  sure  of  was  that  it 
was  not  intended  for  the  Mexican  rebels.  All 
that  Jebsen  told  me  was  that  the  cargo  was 
intended  for  the  Orient,  and  in  the  course  of 
conversation  he  once  mentioned  Borneo. 

"On  the  (?)  of  April,  the  Maverick  finally 
sailed  from  Los  Angeles.  On  the  morning  of 
that  day  Jebsen  gave  me  a  sealed  letter,  ad- 
dressed to  nobody,  with  verbal  instructions  to 
hand  it  over  to  Page  on  the  Annie  Larsen 
immediately  after  I  met  him.  Jebsen  seemed 
to  be  anxious  regarding  this  letter,  and  warned 
me  to  be  careful  and  to  see  that  it  fell  into  no  other 
hands.  He  also  handed  me  another  unaddressed 
letter  to  be  given  to  the  same  man.  This  was  an 
open  letter  which  I  read  isoon  after  leaving  Los 
Angeles.  There  were  two  enclosures  which 
were  printed.  One  was  a  circular  or  memorandum 
of  instructions  as  to  how  to  work  the  machine 
gun  or  a  small  Hotchkiss,  the  diagram  of  which 
was  given  on  the  second  enclosure.  I  am  not 
quite  certain  of  the  type  of  weapon  drawn  on 
that  second  enclosure,  but  I  think  it  was  one 
of  the  two  I  have  mentioned.  The  printed 
circular  was  evidently  from  the  makers  of  that 
arm,  but  the  manufacturer's  name  was  care- 

233 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

fully  cut  out  from  it.  Jebscn  also  handed  me 
a  third  letter,  without  address,  for  Page,  and 
open.  It  contained  typewritten  instructions  as 
to  how  to  stow  the  cargo  to  be  transhipped  from 
the  Annie  Larsen.  It  was  just  a  short  note, 
more  in  the  nature  of  a  suggestion  than  in- 
structions. It  said  that  the  cases  containing 
rifles  were  to  be  stowed  in  one  of  the  two  empty 
tanks  of  the  Maverick  and  flooded  with  oil. 
The  ammunition  cases  were  to  be  stowed  in  the 
other  empty  tank,  which  was  not  to  be  flooded 
except  as  a  last  resort.  This  note,  too,  was 
intended  for  Page.  There  was  a  fourth  open 
note  for  myself  which  contained  suggestions  as 
to  what  I  should  do  in  future  with  the  Annie 
Larsen.  Jebsen,  at  the  same  time,  made  over 
to  m^e  a  bundle,  consisting  of  about  ten  letters, 
with  instructions  to  hand  it  over  to  Page.  All 
these  letters  were  addressed  to  Captain  0th- 
mann.  Although  Jebsen  did  not  tell  me  so, 
I  concluded  that  'Page'  and  *Othmann'  were  one 
and  the  same  man,  and  that  *Page'  was  an  as- 
sumed name. 

*'The  day  before  sailing  Jebsen  introduced  me 
to  a  man  named  B.  Miller,  who,  he  said,  was  a 
Swedish  mining  engineer,  and  who  was  going 
on  the  Maverick  as  far  as  San  Jose  del  Cabo,  to 
proceed  thence  to  the  mines  near  La  Paz. 
Jebsen  asked  me  to  assist  Miller  in  taking  five 

234 


THE  GERMAN-HINDU  CONSPIRACY 

'Persians'  from  Los  Angeles  to  San  Pedro,  and  in 
finding  quarters  for  them  there  for  the  night 
as  they  were  to  go  on  board  the  Maverick  the 
following  day.  Jebsen  told  me  nothing  about 
these  five  Persians  except  that  they  were  going 
with  the  Maverick  as  passengers  right  through 
to  her  destination,  and  were  to  be  signed  on  the 
articles  as  anything.  Accordingly  I  met  Miller 
again  the  same  evening  at  the  Los  Angeles 
railway  station.  I  found  five  black  men  with 
him.  On  seeing  me,  he  said:  ^Here  are  my  men.' 
He  purchased  tickets  for  them,  and  we  all  left 
by  train  for  San  Pedro,  where  I  found  lodgings 
for  them  in  a  cheap  boarding-house  for  the 
night. 

**The  next  morning  I  went  on  board  the 
Maverick  at  San  Pedro,  where  I  met  the  Port 
Commissioner  and  the  crew,  who  were  already 
on  board  signed  on.  Captain  Nelson  was 
present.  Miller  signed  on  as  'store-keeper' 
and  the  five  Persians  as  'waiters.' 

''One  of  the  five  Persian  waiters,  named 
Jehangir,  was  evidently  the  leader  and  generally 
kept  himself  away  from  the  rest.  As  far  as  I 
remember,  the  names  of  the  others  were  Khan, 
Dutt,  Deen,  and  Sham  Sher.  Later  on  I  dis- 
covered that  all  these  were  false  names.  Je- 
hangir's  real  name,  I  believe,  was  Hari  Singh; 
he  signed  his  accounts   and   receipts  as   Hari 

235 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

Singh.     I  have  no  idea  of  the  real  names  of 
the  others. 

"Five  days  after  leaving  Los  Angeles  we 
arrived  at  San  Jose  del  Cabo,  27th  April,  I 
think.  There  Miller  left  us,  and  there,  at 
Nelson's  instance,  I  applied  for  and  got  fresh 
clearance  for  'Anjer,  Java,  via  Pacific  Islands.' 
This  is  the  first  time  that  any  definite  port 
was  mentioned  to  me  as  the  Maverick's  des- 
tination. There  were  evidently  two  reasons 
for  not  obtaining  this  clearance  from  the  original 
port  of  departure;  first,  they  did  not  want  the 
American  authorities  to  know  the  precise  desti- 
nation of  the  Maverick,  which  already  had  roused 
a  certain  amount  of  suspicion;  and,  secondly, 
because,  I  am  sure,  such  a  clearance  as  we 
desired  would  not  be  granted  by  any  American 
port.  According  to  it  the  Maverick  could  have 
touched  at  every  island  in  the  Pacific  before 
arriving  at  Anjer.  Jebsen  had  given  me  to 
understand  that  we  might  meet  the  Annie 
Larsen  at  San  Jose  del  Cabo,  but  she  was  not 
there;  so  we  left  that  port  on  the  28th  of  April 
and  proceeded  to  Socorro  Island  where  we 
arrived  at  9  p.  m.  on  the  29th  and  anchored  in 
a  bay  some  thirty  yards  oflF  the  shore.  As  we 
anchored,  Nelson  informed  the  crew  that  he 
was  expecting  to  meet  at  that  place  the  schooner 
Annie  Larsen  and  asked  them  to  be  on  the  look-. 

236 


THE  GERMAN-HINDU  CONSPIRACY 

out  for  her.  Altogether  we  were  twenty-nine 
days  at  that  island  waiting  for  the  schooner, 
which  did  not  turn  up  after  all.  By  the  time 
we  had  anchored  it  was  very  dark  and  the 
first  sign  of  life  on  the  island  was  as  camp  fire 
close  to  the  shore.  Shortly  after,  a  small  boat 
pulled  alongside  with  two  American  sailors  in  it. 
One  of  them  came  on  the  bridge  and  saw  the 
captain,  and  after  putting  the  question  'Are 
you  the  people  who  are  looking  for  the  Annie 
Lars  en?'  and  getting  a  reply  in  the  aflSrmative, 
he  said  that  the  Annie  Larsen  had  been  at  the 
island,  and  being  short  of  water,  had  left  some 
thirteen  days  before.  He  delivered  a  note  to 
Nelson  stating  that  it  was  left  by  the  Annie 
Larsen  s  super-cargo,  Page.  Nelson  passed  the 
note  over  to  me  to  read.  It  was  a  short  note  in 
English,  saying:  'This  will  be  delivered  to  you  by 
a  member  of  the  crew  of  the  schooner  Emma, 
who  will  explain  his  own  position.  I  have  been 
waiting  for  you  a  month,  and  am  now  going  to 
the  Mexican  West  Coast  for  supplies  and  water. 
I  will  return  as  soon  as  possible.  Please  await 
my  return.'     (Signed)  Tage.' 

"The  sailor  man  then  told  the  following  story: 
that  he  and  his  companion  in  the  boat  and  two 
Mexican  customs-house  ofiScials,  who  were  in 
camp  ashore,  had  left  San  Jose  del  Cabo  some 
time  before  on  the  small  American  schooner 

237 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

Evwia,  with  a  cargo  of  bark  for  the  Mexican 
port  of  Loreto;  that  the  captain  had  proven 
himself  incompetent,  and  they  had  lost  their 
bearings,  and  after  sailing  for  many  days  had 
eventually  arrived  at  this  island,  which  the 
master  declared  was  a  point  close  to  Man- 
zanillo,  but  which  they  discovered  to  be  an 
island.  The  mate  had  died  at  sea;  the  master's 
name  was  Clarke.  These  four  men  declined  to 
go  any  farther  with  the  captain  of  that  ship 
and  preferred  to  be  left  on  the  island  on  the 
off  chance  of  being  picked  up  by  a  passing  vessel. 
The  captain  and  the  cook,  the  only  other  mem- 
bers of  the  crew,  had  left  some  days  earlier  for 
the  Mexican  coast.  At  the  same  time  the 
Emma  touched  the  island  the  Annie  Larsen 
was  there,  and  she  provided  the  castaways 
with  three  empty  water  tanks,  a  rifle,  and  a  few 
provisions.  Since  the  departure  of  the  Annie 
Larsen  they  were  hoping  for  assistance  being 
sent  to  them  from  the  Mexican  coast.  We 
subsequently  discovered  that  these  castaways 
had  rigged  up  a  sort  of  condenser  with  the  aid 
of  their  tanks  and  some  old  piping. 

**The  castaway  who  came  on  the  Maverick 
at  Socorro  further  told  us  that  Page  had  told 
him  that  he  had  left  another  letter  buried 
somewhere  on  the  island  close  to  the  shore  by 
the   bay,   which   could   be  easily  found   if  we 

238 


THE  GERMAN-HINDU  CONSPIRACY 

would  make  a  search  for  it.  Assisted  by  some 
of  the  castaways  I  made  a  search  for  the  second 
note  left  by  Page  and  found  it  buried  in  a 
bottle  under  a  sign  which  read:  Took  Here/ 
The  second  note  was  a  lengthy  repetition  of 
the  first.  Page  asked  us  to  help  the  castaways 
but  cautioned  us  not  to  take  them  aboard  our 
ship.  He  said  he  would  return  as  soon  as  he 
could  get  water  and  that  we  were  to  wait  for 
him.  I  returned  to  the  ship  with  the  note 
and  read  it  out  to  Nelson.  Disregarding  Page's 
warning  not  to  take  the  castaways  aboard,  he 
immediately  asked  them  to  come  aboard,  if  they 
cared,  which  they  did.  They  remained  on  the 
Maverick  till  the  6th  of  May  when  the  American 
collier  (Government  ship)  Nanshan  arrived  and 
took  them  off. 

"The  following  Thursday,  13th  May,  H.  M.  S. 
Kent  arrived;  two  officers  boarded  us  immedi- 
ately and  examined  our  papers.  They  returned 
and  came  on  again  the  next  morning  accom- 
panied by  several  marines.  They  made  a 
thorough  search  of  the  vessel  this  time  and 
returned  to  their  ship.  Nelson  returned  the 
call.  On  his  return  Nelson  told  me  that  the 
Kent's  commander  had  questioned  him  rather 
closely  as  to  what  the  Maverick  was  doing 
there  and  that  in  reply  he  had  told  him 
that  he    could   not    disclose    his    real   purpose 

239 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

but  in  a  roundabout  sort  of  way  hinted 
that  she  was  there  in  connection  with  the 
Mexican  troubles.  The  Kent  remained  there  for 
about  forty  hours,  during  which  I  struck  up 
an  acquaintance  with  several  of  the  officers.  I 
directed  them  where  good  fishing  and  shooting 
were  to  be  had  and  provided  them  with  a  few 
supplies.  Although  there  was  no  water  to  be 
had  on  that  island  there  were  plenty  of  wild 
sheep.  I  am  unable  to  say  how  they  existed 
without  water  outside  the  rainy  season. 

'*The  Annie  Larsen  not  turning  up,  we  left 
about  the  26th  of  May.  Just  before  we  left 
I  went  ashore  and  left  there  two  notes  in  bottles 
for  the  Annie  Larseii  addressed  to  Page  in  case 
the  ship  should  turn  up  after  we  had  left.  I 
put  one  of  the  bottles  in  a  conspicuous  place 
in  the  castaways'  camp.  This  note  read  as 
follows:  'Consult  our  Post  Office.'  by  'our 
Post  Office'  I  meant  the  place  where  Page  him- 
self had  buried  his  note  for  us.  The  other 
bottle  I  buried  where  I  had  found  Page's,  and  put 
up  another  signboard  saying  'Look  again.'  This 
note  told  Page  all  that  had  occurred  during  our 
stay  at  the  island  and  that  we  were  going  some- 
where where  we  could  get  further  instructions. 

**  Immediately  after  the  first  boarding  party 
from  H.  M.  S.  Ke7it  had  left  the  Maverick  after 
going  through  our  papers,  I  was  sent  for  by 

240 


THE  GERMAN-HINDU  CONSPIRACY 

Captain  Nelson  on  the  bridge.  When  I  got  up 
there  I  found  him  in  conversation  with  Jehangir. 
I  gathered  from  Nelson  that  Jehangir  had  aboard 
two  sacks  and  six  suitcases  full  of  literature 
which  he  was  very  anxious  to  hide  from  the 
Kent.  We  were  expecting  another  visit  from 
the  Kent  for  the  purpose  of  searching  the  ship, 
and  Jehangir  said  he  would  not  like  the  literature 
to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Kent  party.  Jehangir 
did  not  like  the  idea  of  destroying  the  literature 
and  suggested  that  it  should  be  quietly  taken 
ashore  and  buried  there,  pending  the  departure 
of  the  Kent.  Neither  Nelson  nor  myself  fell 
in  with  the  suggestion  and  were  of  opinion 
that  it  should  be  destroyed  straight  away,  if 
it  were  dangerous  to  retain  it.  Jehangir  event- 
ually agreed  to  this  and  said  he  would  just 
keep  a  sample  of  the  various  papers  and  pam- 
phlets he  had.  Nelson  grumbled  even  at  that. 
I  am  not  sure  whether  Jehangir  did  really  pre- 
serve any  specimens,  but  I  think  he  did.  The 
two  sacks  with  their  contents  and  the  con- 
tents of  the  six  suitcases  were  immediately 
burnt  in  the  engine  room.  I  personally  saw 
some  of  this  literature.  It  was  all  printed 
matter  in  a  character  unknown  to  me.  Some 
of  it  was  in  newspaper  form,  some  in  leaflets, 
but  most  of  it  was  in  the  form  of  pamphlets; 
the  outside  cover  being  mostly  pink.     The  six 

241 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

empty  suitcases  were  appropriated  by  various 
members  of  the  crew,  I  took  one  of  them  myself, 
and  it  is  with  me  at  the  present  moment. 
Later  I  learned  from  Jehangir  that  the  literature 
was  printed  in  San  Francisco  and  copies  of  it 
'existed'  in  Constantinople  and  Berlin. 

**  After  depositing  the  two  notes  on  the  shore, 
we  weighed  anchor.  Nelson  informed  me  that 
he  intended  proceeding  to  San  Diego     .     .     . 

*' After  about  thirty  hours'  absence  ashore  at 
San  Diego  the  party  returned  to  the  Maverick, 
bringing  with  them  a  few  supplies.  Nelson  in- 
formed me  that  he  was  now  going  to  Hilo, 
Hawaii,  and  when  we  were  well  under  way  he 
told  me  that  from  the  Brewster  Hotel,  San 
Diego,  he  had  rung  up  Jebsen  at  San  Francisco 
on  the  long  distance  telephone  and  was  told 
in  reply  to  wait  at  the  hotel  until  he  heard  from 
him  (Jebsen)  further.  The  following  morning 
he  got  a  wire  from  Jebsen  instructing  Nelson 
to  proceed  to  Hilo,  Hawaii,  where  he  would 
receive  further  orders.  Nelson  said  he  had  no 
word  of  the  Annie  Larsen. 

*' We  left  for  Coronados  Island  on  or  about  the 
2d  of  June  and  arrived  at  Hilo  on  or  about  the 
14th.  Port  officials  came  alongside  and  de- 
manded who  we  were  and  what  out  business  was. 
The  captain  told  them  what  sort  of  clearance 
we  had  and  that  we  had  entered  Hilo  to  commu- 

242 


THE  GERMAN-HINDU  CONSPIRACY 

nicate  with  his  owners.  At  about  8  p.  m.,  when 
it  was  dark,  Captain  Elbo,  of  the  war-bound 
German  merchantman  Ahlers,  came  alongside  in 
a  small  dinghy  rowed  by  one  German  sailor  and 
asked  to  be  allowed  aboard  to  speak  to  the 
captain.  Nelson  spoke  to  him  over  the  rail, 
declining  to  take  the  German  captain  aboard  as 
the  health  officer  had  not  cleared  the  ship,  but 
offered  to  see  him  the  following  morning.  Be- 
fore Elbo  left,  however,  he  passed  a  note  up  to 
Nelson,  who  showed  it  to  me  later  on  in  his 
cabin.  It  read  as  follows:  ^Maverick  is  to 
proceed  to  Johnson  Island  and  then  await  the 
arrival  of  the  schooner  Annie  Larsen  and  the 
rest  of  the  ship's  programme  is  to  be  just  as 
settled  before,'  namely,  that  after  transferring 
the  cargo  to  the  Maverick,  the  Maverick  was  to 
proceed  on  her  original  voyage. 

"Later  Captain  Elbo  took  us  to  the  office  of 
Hackfield  &  Company.  There  we  met  a  young 
German  named  Schroeder  who,  Elbo  gave  us  to 
understand,  was  the  chief  representative  of  the 
Maverick  Company  at  Honolulu  and  had  spe- 
cially come  down  to  Hilo  to  meet  Nelson  about 
Maverick's  future  plans.  It  appeared  that  while 
we  were  still  at  the  Collector's  office  a  war- 
telegrams  slip  had  been  out,  and  among  other 
items  of  interest  was  mentioned  the  arrival  in 
Hilo  of  the  mysterious  ship  Maverick^  whose 

243 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

captain  had  made  a  statement  that  he  had  been 
trading  in  the  South  Sea  Islands  and  he  intended 
leaving  for  Anjer,  Java,  stopping  at  Johnson 
Island  on  the  way.  Schroeder  had  seen  this 
slip  just  before  we  called  on  him  and  was 
apparently  highly  indignant  that  Nelson  should 
have  disclosed  the  future  movements  of  the 
Maverick  to  the  press  representative.  Schroeder 
told  Nelson  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  him 
to  permit  him,  Nelson,  to  go  on  to  Johnson 
Island  after  the  news  had  been  made  public  and 
that  he,  Schroeder,  would  have  now  to  recast 
his  plans.  He  asked  Nelson  to  wait  at  Hilo 
till  he  should  hear  from  him  from  Honolulu, 
where  he,  Schroeder,  must  return  to  arrange 
for  fresh  plans.  At  Nelson's  request  Schroeder 
authorized  Hackfield  to  pay  all  bills  'O.  K'd' 
by  Nelson  and  to  give  him  such  money  as  he 
might  require. 

*'Thus  we  were  at  Hilo  close  on  two  weeks, 
during  which  time  I  personally  attended  to  all 
the  ship's  needs.  I  was  assisted  by  Captain 
Elbo. 

**  A  couple  of  days  before  we  sailed  from  Hilo, 
Nelson  and  I  met  Elbo  and  another  captain  of  a 
war-bound  German  merchantman  in  Honolulu, 
who,  we  were  told,  had  specially  come  down  to 
give  Nelson  final  instructions.  The  Honolulu 
captain  told  us  that  the  original  plans  of  the 

244 


THE  GERMAN-HINDU  CONSPIRACY 

Maverick  were  now  finally  abandoned,  as  it  was 
impossible  to  use  the  Maverick  any  more  for  the 
purpose  she  was  intended  for,  in  view  of  the 
notoriety  she  had  obtained.  The  Maverick  was 
now  to  proceed  to  Anjer-Java,  calling  at  Johnson 
Island;  that  on  arrival  at  Anjer  she  was  to  clear 
for  Batavia  and  report  herself  to  Behn  Meyers, 
the  Maverick  Company's  agents.  Elbo  and  the 
Honolulu  captain  came  aboard  the  Maverick. 
The  Honolulu  captain  had  a  private  talk  with 
me  alone  in  my  cabin.  He  handed  me  a  sealed 
packet  which  evidently  contained  a  plate  of 
something  heavy.  The  letter  was  unaddressed. 
I  was  instructed  to  hand  this  over  to  Helfferich 
at  Behn  Meyers  upon  arrival  in  Batavia.  I  did 
not  know  then  who  this  Helfferich  was,  nor  did 
I  ask  who  he  was.  I  was  merely  told  that 
he  was  the  manager  of  Behn  Meyers.  I  was 
asked  to  be  careful  of  that  letter,  and  I  was  not 
to  give  it  to  anybody  else.  Shortly  after,  the 
Honolulu  captain  and  Elbo  left,  and  we  put 
to  sea. 

**When  we  were  a  couple  or  three  days  out  of 
Hilo,  Hari  Singh,  during  a  conversation,  referred 
once  more  to  the  literature  we  had  destroyed  at 
Socorro,  and  said  that  it  was  the  product  of  many 
of  his  countrymen  who  were  in  America  and  that 
he  himself  had  contributed  to  it.  He  claimed  to 
have  the  whole  of  it  by  heart  and  could  repeat  it 

245 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

without  mistake.  He  was  evidently  an  exile, 
for  he  said  that  'during  the  many  years  of  his 
exile  from  India'  he  had  at  various  times  written 
a  good  deal  against  the  British  rule  in  India. 
He  gave  me  to  understand  that  formerly  he 
belonged  to  the  Indian  Army.  He  said  his 
home  was  in  the  far  interior  of  the  country 
inhabited  by  ignorant  classes,  and  that  if  he 
could  only  succeed  in  getting  to  them,  he  would 
easily  incite  them  to  revolt  against  the  British 
Government  by  promising  to  provide  them  with 
arms  and  ammunition.  He  was  still  under  the 
impression  that  we  were  on  our  way  to  India,  and 
said  that  he  knew  the  place  we  were  bound  for 
very  well,  and  so  did  the  other  four,  and  that 
he  could  be  of  great  assistance  after  we  got 
there. 

"We  got  to  Johnson  Island  five  days  after  our 
departure  from  Hilo.  There  was  no  Annie  Lar- 
sen  there.  I  went  ashore  together  with  the  mate 
and  left  a  bottle  with  a  message  as  follows: 
The  American  steamer  Maverick  entered  and 
cleared  here  to-day.'  We  left  there  the  same 
afternoon  and  made  for  Anjer,  Java.  After  over 
three  weeks'  voyage  we  arrived  at  Anjer  about 
the  20th  of  July.  After  examination  we  asked  for 
and  obtained  permission  to  proceed  to  Batavia, 
and  we  set  sail  the  same  afternoon  accompanied 
by  a  Dutch  torpedo  boat.     Early  next  morning 

246 


THE  GERMAN-HINDU  CONSPIRACY 

we  arrived  outside  Batavia,  and  later  we  were 
taken  into  port  by  the  harbour  master. 

"Two  or  three  days  outside  Anjer  I  read  the 
letter  made  over  to  me  by  Jebsen  at  Los  Angeles 
for  Page.  Owing  to  Jebsen's  warning  to  be  care- 
ful about  it,  I  had  always  carried  this  letter  on 
my  person  so  as  not  to  lose  it.  The  result  was 
that  the  envelope  had  almost  fallen  to  bits; 
now  and  again  I  put  the  letter,  together  with  the 
old  cover,  into  a  new  envelope,  but  toward  the 
end  they,  too,  got  broken  up.  So  I  had  not  to 
open  it  to  read  it.  The  contents  were  type- 
written in  German,  and  were  a  sheet  and  a  half 
of  the  ordinary  square  business  paper.  As  far 
as  I  am  able  to  recollect,  the  letter  read  as 
follows :  *Upon  the  meeting  of  the  Annie  Larsen 
with  the  Maverick  at  .  .  .  (blank)  the 
transhipment  of  the  cargo  must  be  commenced 
at  once.  The  official  reason  to  be  given  out 
was  that  the  Maverick  is  going  to  Batavia  or 
some  other  Oriental  port  to  be  sold  or  chartered. 
It  may  be  suggested  that  she  is  good  for  oil 
trade  on  the  China  Coast.  The  cases  con- 
taining rifles  should  be  stowed  in  one  of  the  two 
empty  tanks  and  flooded,  and  the  cases  of 
ammunition  should  be  placed  in  the  other,  but 
need  not  be  flooded  unless  as  a  last  resort. 
Maverick  should  then  proceed  to  Anjer,  Java. 
No  attempt  is  to  be  made  to  escape  from  British 

247 


FIGHTING  GERMANY^S  SPIES 

warships,  if  encountered  at  sea,  nor  should  she 
try  to  avoid  meeting  merchantmen  or  warships 
of  other  nationaHties.  In  case  of  her  meeting 
a  warship  she  should  act  in  a  manner  abso- 
lutely open  and  above  suspicion.  In  case  of  her 
being  boarded  by  enemy  officers  all  cordiality 
should  be  shown  to  them,  and,  in  fact,  an  in- 
spection should  actually  be  offered,  to  put  them 
off  their  suspicion.  Under  no  condition  is  the 
steamer  or  the  cargo  to  be  permitted  to  fall 
into  their  hands.  Should  the  cargo  be  dis- 
covered, and  should  there  be  no  escape  from 
capture,  the  Captain  is  ordered  not  to  hesitate 
to  have  recourse  to  the  last  resort,  namely,  to 
sink  the  ship.  Upon  arriving  at  Anjer  the 
Maverick  will  be  met  in  the  Sunda  Strait  by 
a  small  friendly  boat  which  will  instruct  you 
regarding  further  details.  Should  you  not  be 
met  at  Anjer  you  are  to  proceed  to  Bangkok, 
where  you  are  to  arrive  toward  dusk.  Here 
you  will  be  met  by  a  German  pilot  who  will 
give  you  further  instructions;  should  you  not 
be  met  here,  also,  you  are  to  proceed  to  Karachi. 
Outside  Karachi  the  Maverick  is  to  be  met  by 
numerous  small  friendly  fishing  craft.  The 
fishing  craft,  together  with  the  five  blacks 
aboard,  will  attend  to  the  unloading  and  landing 
of  the  cargo.  Two  of  the  blacks  should  go 
ashore  immediately  on  arrival  and  proceed  in- 

248 


THE  GERMAN-HINDU  CONSPIRACY 

land  to  notify  your  arrival  to  *'the  people." 
The  remaining  three  blacks  and  the  friendly 
natives  will  assist  in  burying  the  cargo.  Should 
no  friendly  fishing  boats  meet  you,  two  of  the 
blacks  should  go  ashore  and  do  the  notifying 
of  the  people.' 

"After  the  mission  was  over,  that  is  whether 
the  Maverick  was  successful  or  not,  she  was  to  go 
to  Batavia  and  report  to  Behn  Meyers  &  Com- 
pany. The  last  instruction  in  the  letter  was 
that  all  undelivered  papers  were  to  be  handed 
over  to  Behn  Meyers.  In  accordance  with  this 
I  made  over  the  letter  to  Helfferich  on  our 
arrival. 

'*  After  we  had  been  iathe  harbour  (Batavia) 
for  about  an  hour  or  so  a  German  came  aboard 
and  introduced  himself  as  Kolbe,  2d  Officer  of 
the  war-bound  merchantman  Silesia,  Nelson 
signed  me  to  leave  them  alone,  which  I  did. 
After  they  had  conversed  for  about  twenty 
minutes,  Kolbe,  Nelson,  and  myself  went  ashore 
together  and  motored  down  to  Helfferich's 
residence  at  Konigsplein  W.  8.  On  the  way 
we  stopped  at  the  American  Consulate;  Nelson 
went  in  alone.  While  waiting  for  him  outside 
in  the  car  I  had  a  talk  with  Kolbe.  He  knew 
all  about  the  Maverick  and  her  mission.  When 
I  told  him  that  I  should  like  to  interview  the 
manager  of  Behn  Meyers  to  deliver  the  letter 

249 


FIGHTING  GERMANY^S  SPIES 

given  to  mc  by  Dinart  at  Hilo,  Kolbe  replied 
that  Helfferich,  the  man  we  were  on  our  way 
to,   was   the   manager   and    I    could   make   the 
letter  over  to  him.     Dinart  had  not  mentioned 
Helfferich    by    name    at    the    time   of   handing 
the   letter  to  me.     He  asked   me  just   to  de- 
liver it  to  Behn  Meyers.     When  Nelson  joined 
us    again   we    proceeded    to    Helfferich's    place 
where   I   met   for  the   first   time   the   brothers 
Theodore  and  Emile  Helfferich.     Kolbe  and  I 
retired   to   another    part   of    the    house    while 
Nelson  and  the  brothers  held   a  conversation 
for  half  an  hour  or  so.     After  Nelson  had  done, 
he  left  with  Kolbe,  leaving  me  with  the  brothers. 
I    spent    about    an   hour   with   them.     I    gave 
Theodore   Helfferich   Dinart's   letter  which   he 
opened  in  my  presence.     It  was  a  typewritten 
sheet  in  code.     Helfferich   said  it  would  take 
him  some  time  to  decode  it.     The  ^weight'  inside 
the  letter  I  have  spoken  of  was  what  looked  like 
a  thin  slab  of  lead  enclosed  in  another  cover. 
Helfferich  opened  this  cover  and  on  seeing  that 
it  was  a  thin  slab,  threw  it  aside  without  taking 
the  trouble  of  examining  it  closely.     I  have  no 
idea  what  it  was  for,    but  I  imagine   that    in 
case  it  had  to  be  suddenly  thrown  overboard 
the   weight   inside   the   cover   would    sink   the 
letter  at  once.     I  told  them  all  about  our  trip, 
and  showed  them  the  letters  I  had  brought  with 

250 


THE  GERMAN-HINDU  CONSPIRACY 

me.  Helfferich  read  the  letter  intended  for 
Page,  and  remarked  that  the  arrangements 
made  at  this  end  were  substantially  the  same 
as  those  indicated  in  the  letter.  He  said  the 
signals  were  the  same,  and  password  was  the 
same,  and  the  code  was  the  same.  Emile 
spoke  up  and  said  that  he  had  waited  for  the 
Maverick  for  three  weeks  in  the  Sunda  Strait. 
They  deeply  regretted  the  failure  of  the  Maverick 
in  not  bringing  the  arms  and  said  that  their 
arrangements  on  this  side  were  excellent  and 
they  were  only  waiting  the  arrival  of  the  cargo 
when  they  could  have  easily  put  their  whole 
scheme  through.  They  observed  that  'the 
people'  in  India  were  all  ready  and  prepared 
and  had  only  been  waiting  for  the  arms  to  turn 
up.  They  did  not  discuss  their  own  scheme 
with  me.  Theodore  Helfferich  expressed  his  dis- 
gust at  the  Maverick  being  thrust  upon  him 
and  could  not  understand  the  object  of  her 
being  sent  to  Batavia  when  she  was  not  carrying 
the  cargo,  and  when  she  could  have  as  easily 
returned  to  America.  It  was  then  arranged 
that  I  should  take  up  my  lodging  in  a  hotel 
ashore  and  in  the  meantime  Helfferich  would 
decipher  the  code  letter.  Things  were  to  be 
left  alone  until  he  had  read  that. 

"A  couple  of  days  after,  I  was  rung  up  by 
Helfferich  and  I  went  and  saw  him  at  his  place 

251 


FIGHTING  GERMANY^S  SPIES 

in  the  evening.  He  had  deciphered  the  letter 
which  had  ^originated'  from  San  Francisco. 
Helfferich  said  that  the  letter  directed  the 
abandonment  of  the  Maverick,  which  was  either 
to  be  sold  or  chartered  to  anybody  or  that  she 
could  be  used  for  any  regular  purpose  if  Helf- 
ferich so  desired.  She  was,  if  not  sold,  to  be 
retained  in  this  part  of  the  world  and  on  no 
account  to  be  returned  to  America." 

So  fizzled  the  German-Hindu  gun-running 
expedition  to  India.  The  Maverick  had  arrived, 
with  five  "Persians"  and  no  guns,  at  a  Dutch  port 
in  the  Indies — not  India.  The  Hindus  and  the 
crew  scattered  to  the  winds;  Starr-Hunt  started 
to  return  to  Los  Angeles  but  was  detained  by 
the  British  authorities  at  Singapore,  and  ulti- 
mately appeared  in  the  Federal  court-room  at 
San  Francisco  as  the  chief  witness  for  the 
Government  in  its  case  against  the  German 
consul  and  his  staff,  the  complacent  Americans, 
and  the  Hindu  conspirators.  The  Annie  Larsen 
wandered  up  and  down  the  Pacific  Coast,  and 
finally  put  in  at  Hoquiam,  Wash.,  where  she 
was  promptly  seized  and  her  cargo  of  arms 
and  ammunition  locked  up  by  the  United 
States  Government. 

Von  Brincken  bore  bitter  testimony  to  the  fail- 
ure of  the  Maverick  expedition,  in  the  course  of  a 
"Report  Concerning  My  Activities  at  the  Im- 

252 


THE  GERMAN-HINDU  CONSPIRACY 

perial  Consulate  in  San  Francisco,  California" — 
a  report  written  November  lo,  1916,  and  in- 
tended for  the  eyes  of  the  German  Foreign 
Office.     He  said : 

"I  complied  with  that  instruction  and  met 
Ram  Chandra  and  other  leaders  of  the  Hindu 
Nationalists,  and  there  laid  the  foundation  for 
the  entire  Hindu  work  which  has  since  then  been 
carried  out  here  on  the  Pacific.  ...  Up  to 
the  present  date,  I  have  fulfilled  this  assignment 
absolutely  alone  ...  Mr.  Von  Schack  has 
seen  Ram  Chandra  only  a  few  times  during  the 
entire  period — ^while  Consul-General  Bopp  saw 
the  man  only  once.  I  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  ship-matters  in  connection  with  the  Hindu 
affair.  Therefore,  I  am  not  responsible  for  the 
failure  of  the  'Maverick  Expedition.'  I  had  only 
planned  the  point  of  landing  at  Karachi.  Besides, 
through  messengers,  I  had  prepared  the  populace 
of  the  Punjab  for  the  arrival  of  the  Maverick'' 

At  the  time  of  the  Maverick  enterprise,  and 
after  its  failure,  the  Germans  engineered  a  half 
dozen  plots  with  the  Hindus,  looking  toward 
revolution  in  India.  Von  Papen  in  New  York 
directed  a  scheme  for  an  incursion  into  north- 
western India  through  Afghanistan.  The  Ger- 
man Consul-General  in  Chicago  shipped  two 
German  officers  and  two  Hindu  agitators  to 
the  Orient  to  train  Hindu  soldiers  in  upper  Siam 

253 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

for  an  invasion  of  Burma.  Wcsendonck  sent 
Har  Dayal  from  Berlin  to  Constantinople  to 
act  as  chairman  of  a  committee  of  Moham- 
medans who  were  to  incite  the  Mussulman 
population  of  India  to  revolt.  Ram  Chandra, 
at  the  instigation  of  Von  Brincken,  sent  Hindu 
emissaries  from  San  Francisco  to  organize  revo- 
lutionary movements  among  the  Indians  in  Ma- 
nila, Tokyo,  Shanghai — even  in  Seoul  and  Peking. 
Other  emissaries,  gathering  men  and  money  or 
transmitting  messages,  worked  in  Panama,  in 
Switzerland,  in  the  Sinai  Peninsula,  in  Sweden — 
scarcely  a  country  in  the  world  but  was  touched 
by  a  filament  of  this  spider's  web  of  German 
intrigue. 

And,  like  gossamer,  it  all  came  to  airy  nothing- 
ness. A  few  dacoities  [robberies  accompanied 
by  violence],  a  few  vain  attempts  to  suborn 
loyal  native  troops  in  India,  were  the  net  results 
of  enormous  labours,  lengthy  journeys,  and  huge 
expenditures  of  money. 

By  December,  1915,  the  German  Govern- 
ment tecame  impatient  of  this  much  ado  about 
nothing.  But  it  did  not  abandon  hope.  Zim- 
mermann  summoned  a  little,  nervous,  excitable 
Hindu  from  New  York  to  Berlin.  Dr.  Chak- 
ravarty  left  America  on  a  false  passport,  and  in 
February,  1916,  was  appointed  in  Berlin  to  head 
the  Indian  intrigues  in  America.    Zimmermann's 

254 


THE  GERMAN-HINDU  CONSPIRACY 

cable  to  Bernstorff,  quoted  in  the  first  part  of 
this  article,  notified  the  German  authorities  here 
of  his  appointment.  By  August,  Dr.  Chakrav- 
arty  was  in  San  Francisco,  consulting  with  Ram 
Chandra  and  the  Germans  there. 

Chakravarty  and  Ram  Chandra  had  one  thing 
in  common — both  knew  the  value  of  real  estate. 
Out  of  their  joint  operations  in  the  insubstantial 
pursuit  of  Indian  liberty,  each  emerged  with 
some  perfectly  sound  investments  in  mundane 
property,  paid  for  with  money  subtracted  from 
the  German  gold  that  passed  through  their  hands 
for  the  '*  freeing  of  the  oppressed."  Chakrav- 
arty put  about  forty  thousand  dollars  into  New 
York  apartments,  and  Ram  Chandra  several 
thousands  into  residence  and  business  property 
in  San  Francisco. 

Ram  Chandra's  real-estate  ventures  got  him 
into  trouble.  They  gave  the  needed  opportunity 
to  his  rival  for  control  of  the  Hindu  organization 
in  California.  This  rival  was  Bhagwan  Singh, 
the  poet  and  orator  of  the  "Movement.''  Late 
in  1916,  he  accused  Ram  Chandra  of  stealing 
Hindu  funds.  The  directors  of  the  Hindu 
Pacific  Coast  Association  investigated  the  charge, 
and  threw  Ram  Chandra  out.  Bhagwan  Singh 
became  president  of  the  association  and  editor 
of  the  Ghadr.  A  few  months  later,  when  the 
United  States  entered  the  war,  the  whole  crew 

255 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

was  arrested,  along  with  the  German  agents 
in  San  Francisco  and  Honolulu  and  with  the 
Americans  and  German-Americans  implicated  in 
the  Maverick  enterprise. 

The  trial  of  these  men  was  one  of  the  most 
picturesque  scenes  ever  enacted  in  an  American 
court.  In  the  prisoner's  dock  aggressive  blond 
German  officers  sat  beside  anaemic,  swarthy, 
turbaned  Hindus  and  plain  American  business 
men.  To  make  the  evidence  intelligible  to  the 
jury,  a  map  of  half  the  world  was  painted  on  one 
wall  of  the  court-room,  showing  America  and 
Asia  and  the  Pacific  Ocean,  splotched  with  red 
dots  and  routes  of  travel.  Beside  the  map  were 
printed  the  names  of  the  defendants,  so  that 
their  strangeness  might  be  somewhat  simplified. 
Among  the  polyglot  evidence  were  Hindu  publi- 
cations in  six  Oriental  languages,  including  Per- 
sian; cipher  messages  which,  when  deciphered, 
proved  to  be  an  Indian  revolutionist's  letters 
which  had  to  be  translated  by  reference  to  page 
and  line  of  an  American's  book  about  '*  Germany 
and  the  Germans";  enciphered  code,  written 
in  Berlin  by  the  German  Foreign  Minister, 
transmitted  to  Stockholm  and  thence  by  the 
Swedish  Government  to  Buenos  Aires  and  thence 
by  Count  Luxburg  to  Bernstorff  in  Washington, 
telling  him  to  pay  an  East  Indian  in  New  York 
money  for  use  in  San  Francisco  to  send  arms  to 

256 


THE  GERMAN-HINDU  CONSPIRACY 

revolutionists  near  Calcutta — besides  other 
oddities  of  men  and  places  and  documents  too 
numerous  to  mention. 

The  episode  of  the  Maverick  and  the  Annie 
Lars  en  occupied  a  large  place  in  the  trial.  One 
of  the  humours  of  that  fiasco  was  the  proof  that 
"Juan  Bernardo  Bowen,"  of  Topolobampo, 
Mexico,  was  a  romantic  imagining  to  conceal 
plain  Bernard  Manning  of  San  Diego.  There 
was  no  Juan  Bernardo.  The  man  who  got 
Tauscher's  shipment  of  arms  for  the  Annie 
Larsen  was  Manning. 

The  prosecution  proved  that  the  funds  for 
the  purchase  of  the  Maverick  and  for  the  charter 
of  the  Annie  Larsen  were  got  from  the  German 
Consulate's  bank  accounts  in  San  Francisco,  and 
were  concealed  by  an  elaborate  jugglery  through 
a  chain  of  American  lawyers  and  shipping  agents 
in  San  Francisco,  Los  Angeles,  and  San  Diego. 

The  end  of  the  story  is  briefly  told  in  the 
following  despatch  to  the  New  York  Sun^  dated 
San  Francisco,  April  24, 1918: 

Twenty-nine  men,  charged  with  conspiring  on  Ameri- 
can soil  to  start  a  revolution  against  British  rule  in  India, 
were  found  guilty  by  a  jury  in  Federal  Court  early  to-day. 

Just  as  court  adjourned  for  the  noon  recess  yesterday, 
the  last  day  of  the  trial,  Ram  Singh,  a  defendant,  shot 
and  killed  Ram  Chandra,  another  defendant.  United 
States  Marshal  James  Holohan  shot  Ram  Singh  dead  in  his 
tracks. 

257 


CHAPTER  XI 

Dr.  Scheele,  Chemical  Spy 

ONE  day  the  Department  of  Justice  in 
Washington  received  a  brief  code  message, 
dated  from  Havana,  saying  that  *'Dr.  Scheele" 
was  coming  home.  The  War  Department  also 
had  received  a  code  message;  these  started 
a  little  hum  of  activity.  The  messages  gave 
a  key  to  the  possession  of  certain  papers. 
Hurriedly  a  special  agent  of  the  Department 
of  Justice  was  provided  with  a  letter  written  in 
the  cipher  designated.  The  agent  spoke  Ger- 
man, looked  German,  and  hastened  to  the  home 
of  an  unsuspecting  custodian  of  some  of  the 
Fatherland's  most  damaging  records,  and  there 
arranged  with  the  guardian  for  a  safer  place 
for  such  papers.  But  the  duly-accredited 
messenger  wasn't  German  at  all,  and  the 
papers  handed  over  widened  out  the  trail  of 
one  big  German  plot. 

Who  was  this  Dr.  Scheele?  He  was  a  quiet 
German  chemist  who  sometimes  aided  the 
police  in  detecting  traces  of  crime.  Didn't 
his  neighbours  know  him?    Of  course;  he  was 

258 


DR.  SCHEELE,  CHEMICAL  SPY 

that  genial  and  entertaining  German-American 
who  owned  a  drug  store  in  Brooklyn,  one  of 
the  desirable  kind  of  citizens,  the  law-abiding 
kind  of  foreigner  whom  we  welcomed  in  our 
midst.  Did  the  business  world  know  him? 
Yes;  he  was  president  of  the  New  Jersey  Agri- 
cultural Chemical  Company,  a  concern  which 
kept  its  contracts  and  paid  its  debts.  America 
was  satisfied  with  this  president,  the  adopted 
son,  who  had  married  an  American  wife  and 
resided  peacefully  among  us  for  twenty-four 
years.    Why  not  ^ 

When  the  French  liner  La  Lorraine  caught 
fire  at  sea  with  hospital  nurses  and  supplies 
of  mercy  on  board,  what  could  this  have  to  do 
with  an  inconspicuous  druggist  in  Brooklyn.^ — 
or  when  numerous  ships  sailed  loaded  with  sugar 
or  supplies  for  the  needy  neutrals  abroad,  and 
never  after  were  heard  oU 

Finally  a  British  cruiser  with  an  inquisitive 
captain  overhauled  the  steamship  Rize  which 
was  carrying  a  cargo  of  fertilizer  badly  needed 
for  the  fields  in  Denmark.  There  was  nothing 
particularly  suspicious  about  a  cargo  packed 
in  sacks,  just  ordinary  brown  powdered  fer- 
tilizer of  the  most  common  variety  and  shipped 
by  the  New  Jersey  Agricultural  Chemical  Co. 
But  for  some  reason  the  papers  didn't  entirely 
satisfy.    The  cargo  was  confiscated,  analyzed, 

259 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

and  an  astonished  chemist  reported  that  the 
*' fertilizer"  was  composed  of  highest  grade 
lubricating  oil,  mixed  with  a  certain  chemical 
which  had  reduced  the  oil  to  a  solid  but  when 
the  mixture  was  treated  with  a  little  acid 
the  sacks  yielded  oil  fit  for  the  Kaiser's  best 
Unterseeboten, 

The  Department  of  Justice  paid  an  official 
call  on  the  New  Jersey  company — the  "Pres- 
ident" was  away;  he  remained  away  during 
two  years  of  very  painstaking  search  by  the 
officials  of  the  Department's  secret  service, 
which  had  an  ever-increasing  desire  to  make 
the  acquaintance  of  the  inconspicuous  chemist 
who  seemed  to  possess  some  of  the  mythical 
powers  of  the  ancient  alchemists. 

There  seemed  also  to  be  an  unusual  bank 
account  connected  with  this  gentleman,  engaged 
in  such  magnificent  business  enterprises,  that 
yielded  such  meagre  profits,  as  were  evidenced 
by  the  President's  home  life  and  general  cir- 
cumstances. Who  is  he,  and  where  is  he.? 
were  questions  that  vexed  the  bureau  in  Wash- 
ington. Two  years  rolled  by;  numbers  of 
Germans  connected  with  "the  Doctor"  were 
sent  to  jail,  but  only  rumours  were  got  of  trails 
of  the  chemist. 

Fate,  however,  transferred  our  story  to  the 
shadowy  neighbourhood  of  Morro  Castle;  there, 

260 


DR.  SCHEELE,  CHEMICAL  SPY 

an  excited  and  still  unidentified  German  who 
was  trying  to  board  a  vessel  at  Matanzas, 
Cuba,  for  a  port  in  Mexico,  was  brought  into 
Havana  in  front  of  the  bayonets  of  a  not-too- 
careful  Rural  Guard.  Then  a  newly  arrived 
representative  of  the  Department  of  Justice 
undertook  some  negotiations  with  the  Cuban 
Government  for  a  safe  passage  back  for  a 
certain  Dr.  Walter  T.  Scheele  and  his  pay- 
master. 

An  ancient  fort,  which  is  the  military  prison 
in  Havana  and  a  part  of  the  old  fortified  wall 
which  follows  the  water  front  of  the  picturesque 
harbour,  was  shrouded  in  darkness  when  the 
hour  of  departure  arrived.  Between  the  old 
fort  and  the  grim  outline  of  "the  Morro" 
lay  a  Cuban  gunboat  with  black  smoke  pouring 
out  of  her  funnels;  a  tropical  storm  blowing 
in  over  the  Gulf  Stream  alternately  darkened 
the  sky  a  deeper  tone  and  lit  it  up  with  vivid 
lightning  flashes.  Presently  a  little  group  ap- 
peared on  the  sea  walls  and  a  flash  of  lightning 
showed  an  American  in  plain  clothes,  the  regalia 
of  the  agents  of  Justice  and  a  colonel  of  the 
regular  army  who  were  signing  a  receipt  for 
two  quiet  figures  in  alpine  hats.  A  courteous 
Cuban  officer  saluted  and  shook  hands  with 
the  departing  guests,  handcuffs  were  silently 
slipped  on  to  thick  German  wrists,  and  the  little 

261 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

steam  pinnace  of  the  warship  sped  off  through 
the  darkness  alongside  its  gangway. 

An  interview  none  the  less  sombre  and  creepy 
occurred  on  the  other  side  of  the  Gulf  Stream 
within  the  walls  of  Fort  Taylor.  Two  automobiles 
had  driven  up  in  the  darkness  to  an  emplace- 
ment beneath  the  shadow  of  a  heavy  gun.  The 
party  which  had  left  Havana  descended  in  a 
dimly  lighted  courtyard  where  a  squad  of  non- 
commissioned officers  was  waiting.  One  figure 
in  an  alpine  hat  had  to  be  lifted  from  the 
automobile  while  the  other  stood  erect. 

Here  is  the  story  of  Dr.  Scheele,  the  more  im- 
portant of  these  two  agents  of  the  Kaiser: 

Twenty-five  years  ago  a  German  youth  (one 
of  the  favourite  pupils  of  the  great  chemist, 
Professor  Keukle)  graduated  at  Bonn.  He 
came  of  an  illustrious  family;  his  grandfather, 
the  Swedish  professor,  Scheele,  discovered 
chlorine  gas.  His  father,  born  in  Germany, 
died  in  the  discovery  of  ''prussic  acid,"  the 
most  quickly  fatal  drug  known.  The  youth, 
with  sixteen  deep  scars  on  his  head  and  face 
from  duelling  under  the  vicious  German  code, 
was  a  man  of  proved  valour.  Who  was  better 
to  send  to  the  great  developing  home  of  liberty 
and  freedom  and  study  its  industry,  and  pre- 
pare for  a  day  which  was  already  dazzling  the 
newly  enthroned  Kaiser? 

262 


DR.  SCHEELE,  CHEMICAL  SPY 

Dr.  Hugo  Schweitzer  was  chosen  to  go  with 
him  and  collaborate.  He,  as  the  head  of  the 
Bayer  Chemical  Company — a  German  concern 
that  practically  monopolized  the  trade  in  syn- 
thetic drugs  in  the  United  States — was  to  report 
on,  to  model,  or  undermine  our  development  of 
industrial  chemistry.  Dr.  Scheele  was  to  re- 
port on  and  develop  the  plan  and  chemistry 
of  warfare,  explosives,  incendiaries,  poison  gas, 
and  the  products  Germany  should  import  and 
accumulate  to  make  her  sure  and  independent 
on  the  day  she  should  strike  the  world.  Did 
these  young  men  faithfully  accomplish  their 
tasks  ? 

Dye  making  was  almost  an  unknown  art  in 
America  when  the  war  broke  out;  chlorine  gas  was 
a  laboratory  curiosity;  potash  was  a  German 
salt — we  had  been  led  to  believe  our  millions  of 
tons  of  the  mineral  were  insoluble.  Where  neces- 
sary, those  of  our  chemists  who  had  learned  the 
secrets  were  retained  and  paid.  The  list  of  our 
chemical  houses  reads  Hke  the  telephone  di- 
rectory of  Unter  den  Linden,  and  the  Alien 
Property  Custodian  has  since  spent  many  nights 
over  their  affairs. 

While  the  German  plenipotentiaries  were 
busy  at  The  Hague  agreeing  to  the  elimination 
of  poison  gas  and  incendiaries  from  warfare, 
their    chemists    in    the    United    States,    paid 

263 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

regularly  but  meagrely  through  the  Embassy 
at  Washington,  exchanged  views  in  writing 
and  by  cable  with  the  chemists  of  the  Father- 
land over  the  most  fatal  methods  for  the  use 
of  the  gas  which  had  just  been  developed  for 
the  purpose. 

Mustard  gas  was  used  against  the  Allies 
in  1917,  a  new  and  atrocious  device,  *'only 
discovered  and  recently  used  by  the  Germans 
because  of  the  brutality  of  their  enemies/' 
A  few  formulae  for  this  product  were  in  Dr. 
Scheele's  laboratory  in  New  York  about  five 
years  before  the  war,  and  tactics  of  the  uses 
discussed  in  the  trips  which  he  made  home  every 
two  years  "to  keep  up  to  date." 

Two  methods  of  stifling  American  production 
have  not  yet  been  mentioned.  The  first  was 
this :  When  a  man  began  to  make  a  reputation 
as  a  chemist  in  an  American-owned  concern, 
he  was  hired  away  to  work  for  a  German- 
owned  factory.  Salary  was  no  consideration; 
they  simply  bid  the  price  required  to  get  him. 
The  second  method  was:  when  an  American 
chemist  invented  a  new  product  or  a  new 
process,  and  patented  it,  it  was  bought  from 
him  before  it  could  be  commercially  developed. 
Again  price  was  no  consideration.  The  only 
instructions  were:  "Pay  as  little  as  you  can, 
but  get  it." 

264 


DR.  SCHEELE,  CHEMICAL  SPY 

The  operation  of  this  system  was  the  duty 
of  Dr.  Scheele  and  Dr.  Schweitzer.  Report- 
ing to  them  was  at  least  one  loyal  German 
chemist  in  every  chemical  factory  in  the  United 
States;  dozens  of  them  in  the  larger  ones.  At 
their  disposal  were  the  resources  of  the  Imperial 
German  Government.  These,  too,  were  made 
accessible  through  Dr.  Heinrich  Albert  in 
German-American  banking  and  brokerage  con- 
cerns, chiefly  G.  Amsinck  &  Company,  the 
Trans-Atlantic  Trust  Company,  and  Knauth, 
Nochode  &  Kuhne,  of  New  York,  every  one  of 
them  in  reality  a  local  American  agency  of  one 
or  another  of  the  imperially  controlled  banks  of 
Germany  and  Austria — such  as  the  Reichsbank, 
the  Disconto  Gesellschaft,  or  the  Deutsche  Bank. 

The  chief  of  these  American  branches  was 
G.  Amsinck  &  Company,  operating  as  commis- 
sion merchants  and  private  bankers.  The  head 
of  this  concern  was  Adolf  Pavenstedt,  an 
accomplished  man  of  the  world,  a  shrewd 
banker,  and  under  the  iron  discipline  of  the 
Kaiser's  military  organization.  Pavenstedt 
lived  at  the  German  Club  in  Central  Park 
South,  in  New  York,  took  his  vacations  in 
Cuba  in  the  winter  and  the  Berkshires  in  the 
summer,  was  received  in  the  best  society  in 
New  York,  passed  easily  in  Wall  Street  as  a 
man  of  large   personal  fortune  and  of  sound 

265 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

business  judgment — altogether  a  characteristic 
German  hypocrite  and  government  agent  acting 
under  Dr.  Albert  and  Bernstorff.  He  was  a 
paymaster  of  Germany's  nation-wide  organi- 
zation to  control  our  industrial  life,  to  spy 
out  our  military  plans,  and  to  keep  us  power- 
less against  the  day  when  Prussia  should  be 
ready  to  sweep  the  world.  He  was  also  the  finan- 
cial go-between  in  the  Bolo  Pasha  case.  Fortu- 
nately, he  has  now  long  been  a  resident  of  an 
Army  internment  camp. 

Two  years  ago  the  Government  indicted 
Dr.  Scheele  for  his  part  in  the  incendiary 
bomb  plot.  The  details  of  this  fiendish  device 
will  be  given  later  in  the  story.  Dr.  Scheele 
was  forewarned  of  probable  detection  on  the 
31st  of  March,  1916,  by  a  special-delivery 
letter  telling  him  to  see  Wolf  von  Igel  immedi- 
ately at  60  Wall  Street  in  New  York.  Von 
Igel  told  him  to  start  for  Cuba  by  the  next  train. 
Dr.  Scheele  feared  that  such  a  precipitate 
flight  would  expose  him  to  certain  arrest. 
Hence,  he  violated  his  instruction  and  went 
south  to  Jacksonville  by  easy  stages.  There 
he  called  upon  one  Sperber,  the  editor  of  the 
Florida  Deutsche  Staatszeittcng,  who  warned 
him  not  to  sail  from  Key  West,  as  that  port 
was  being  watched  both  by  our  ofiScers  and 
by  the   British   cruisers  outside  the  three-mile 

266 


DR.  SCHEELE,  CHEMICAL  SPY 

limit.  Sperber  gave  Dr.  Scheele  letters  of 
introduction  and  credentials  under  the  name 
of  W.  T.  Rheinfelder,  to  act  as  a  correspondent 
for  his  paper.  He  supplied  him  also  with 
fake  calling  cards  and  other  forged  documents, 
establishing  him  in  his  role.  Still  fearing  to 
leave  for  Cuba,  he  waited. 

His  superiors  again  instructed  him  to  go 
to  Cuba.  He  landed  in  Cuba  on  April  i6th. 
There  he  reported  to  the  German  Minister, 
Count  Verdy  du  Vernois,  who  passed  him  on 
to  an  attache  of  the  Legation  with  this  strange 
result:  that  Dr.  Scheele  next  found  himself 
installed  as  a  ^'guest"  in  the  house  of  one  Juan 
Pozas,  under  the  name  of  James  G.  Williams, 
and  in  the  character  of  a  visiting  American. 

His  strange  and  unexpected  host  appeared 
at  first  to  be  simply  a  wealthy  Cuban  merchant. 
His  manner  of  life  strengthened  this  impression. 
Dr.  Scheele  found  himself  comfortably  installed 
in  a  large  room  in  a  magnificent  house,  sur- 
rounded by  grounds  of  a  city  block  square, 
in  the  suburb  Guana  Bacca  of  Havana.  In 
reality,  Pozas  was  the  king  of  the  Cuban 
smugglers.  His  splendid  establishment  and  his 
social  prestige  rested  upon  a  picturesque  founda- 
tion of  the  work  of  silent  men  in  little  boats 
working  in  the  dark  of  the  moon  along  the 
tropical  Cuban  shore. 

267 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

To  Dr.  Scheele,  Pozas  soon  appeared  to  be 
not  only  host  but  jailer.  Though  he  was 
treated  with  every  courtesy  and  as  a  member 
of  the  family,  he  was  not  allowed  outside  the 
house  for  six  months  after  his  arrival.  The 
confinement  so  told  upon  his  health  that  he 
was  finally  permitted  the  freedom  of  the  garden, 
and,  to  while  away  the  time,  he  worked  among 
the  flowers,  making  at  length  a  beauty  spot 
of  the  whole  place.  At  the  same  time,  he  was 
devoting  other  spare  hours  to  covering  the 
walls  of  the  Pozas  mansion  with  beautiful 
mural  paintings.  Again  it  may  be  noted  that 
Dr.  Scheele  is  a  remarkable  man. 

In  this  strange  retreat  the  doctor  spent 
two  years.  Then  suddenly,  without  warning, 
he  was  hurried  hither  and  yon  about  the  island, 
travelling  under  guard  by  automobile  by  night, 
and  lying  hidden  by  day  in  the  houses  of  trusted 
German  agents.  He  finally  arrived  at  Man- 
tanzas.  Here,  the  man  in  whose  house 
he  was  to  stay  hidden  became  fearful  that  he 
would  be  discovered  there  and  the  man  him- 
self get  into  desperate  trouble.  He,  therefore, 
directed  Dr.  Scheele  to  a  neighbouring  hotel, 
but  the  doctor  was  unable  to  obtain  accommo- 
dation, so  that  he  spent  the  night  sitting  in  a 
railroad  station. 

Simultaneously  another  German  of  Havana 
268 


DR.  SCHEELE,  CHEMICAL  SPY 

was  taken  into  custody.  He  was  implicated 
in  the  Scheele  affair  by  reason  of  his  payments 
to  the  doctor,  besides  being  involved  in  numer- 
ous violations  of  the  neutrality  of  Cuba,  for 
which  the  Cuban  Government  meant  to  hold 
him  responsible. 

The  close  investigation  of  this  man  revealed 
much  valuable  data.  A  collection  of  papers 
had  been  buried  by  Dr.  Scheele  in  the  tropical 
garden  he  had  built  about  the  Pozas  mansion. 
There  they  were  unearthed  by  the  agent  of 
the  Department  of  Justice  of  the  United  States 
who  had  gone  to  Cuba  to  bring  him  back. 
Taking  a  pick  and  shovel  and  digging  among 
the  flowers  cherished  by  the  doctor,  he  found 
these  damning  documents  from  Potsdam,  con- 
taining their  secret  instructions  for  the  working 
out  of  the  industrial  conquest  of  Vereinigten 
Staaten — These  United  States. 

Another  set  of  documents  was  obtained  by 
a  very  clever  piece  of  work  by  agents  of  the 
Department  of  Justice.  These  were  papers 
left  behind  by  Wolf  von  Igel  when  he  left 
the  United  States — papers  that  he  dared  not 
risk  having  seized  and  read  by  the  British 
authorities  on  his  way  to  Germany.  They 
were  packed  in  a  suitcase  and  were  committed 
to  the  care  of  a  German  in  Englewood,  New 
Jersey.     On  instructions  from  the  head  office 

269 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

of  the  Department  of  Justice  in  Washington, 
agents  in  the  New  York  office  of  the  Depart- 
ment wrote  out  in  German,  on  a  typewriter, 
the  letter  telHng  this  German  to  dehver  the 
suitcase  to  the  bearer  and  including  in  its  mes- 
sage the  magic  password.  This  letter  was 
entrusted  to  an  agent  who  spoke  German 
perfectly. 

He  executed  the  commission  without  a  hitch. 
He  called  upon  the  German  and  introduced 
himself  in  low  tones  as  a  loyal  subject  of  the 
Kaiser  and  asked  to  be  taken  into  the  house. 
There  he  presented  his  letter.  When  the  Ger- 
man read  it,  he  broke  into  a  hearty  laugh  and 
said  the  password  no  longer  really  applied, 
because  it  referred  to  the  coal  pile.  He  had 
found,  on  account  of  the  coal  shortage,  that 
at  times  he  could  not  keep  enough  coal  in 
the  cellar  to  keep  the  suitcase  covered,  and 
that  consequently  he  had  had  to  conceal  it 
elsewhere  in  the  house.  The  caller  joined 
him  in  laughter  at  this  piece  of  humour,  and  the 
German  excused  himself  and  soon  returned 
with  the  suitcase.  It  was  not  till  several 
days  later  that  he  had  the  slightest  inkling 
that  the  man  he  had  entertained  was  an  oper- 
ative of  the  American  Government. 

The  plot  for  which  Dr.  Scheele  was  brought 
to  earth  was  only  a  detail  in  the  vast  scheme 

270 


DR.  SCHEELE,  CHEMICAL  SPY 

of  Germany's  treachery,  but  it  was  one  of  the 
most  dastardly  and  most  dramatic  of  those 
details,  and  its  detection  and  unravelling  re- 
vealed the  men  at  the  head  of  the  German 
system  in  this  country  and  their  mutual  rela- 
tionships. In  a  previous  chapter  I  have  told 
something  of  the  career  of  Franz  von  Rintelen. 
At  this  point  he  appears  as  an  agent  of  Ger- 
many seeking  to  destroy  the  ships  bearing 
American  supplies  to  the  Allies.  One  day 
Dr.  Scheele  received  a  caller,  Eno  Bode, 
a  captain  in  the  service  of  the  North  Ger- 
man Lloyd  Steamship  Company.  Bode  bore 
a  card  from  Von  Papen,  ordering  Scheele  to 
execute  any  orders  which  Bode  gave.  Von 
Papen's  orders,  in  their  turn,  had  come  through 
Rintelen. 

Bode  now  disclosed  to  Dr.  Scheele  a  most 
infernal  plan.  He  was  instructed  to  invent  a 
bomb  of  simple  mechanism,  which  could  be  placed 
in  a  ship's  cargo  or  its  coal  and  which  would 
not  explode,  but  set  fire  to  anything  inflammable 
with  which  it  came  in  contact.  It  must  be 
devised  to  operate  at  any  predetermined  time 
after  it  was  placed  on  board. 

To  Dr.  Scheele,  a  great  chemist  himself  and 
possessed  of  every  secret  of  the  greatest  nation 
of  chemists  in  the  world,  this  was  a  simple 
order.     In  his   instructions   he   was   forbidden 

271 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

to  apply  for  his  materials  to  any  American 
concern  through  which  the  purchase  might 
ever  be  traced.  Consequently,  he  asked  for 
technical  assistance  and  was  referred  to  Captain 
Carl  Schmidt,  the  chief  engineer  of  the  Fried- 
rich  der  Grosse,  one  of  the  great  German 
liners  interned  at  Hoboken.  Schmidt  placed 
at  his  disposal  Charles  Becker,  the  electrician 
of  the  Friedrich  der  Grosse.  From  him  he 
obtained  sections  of  lead  pipe  and  thin  sheets 
of  lead  and  tin.  The  chemicals  were  easily 
obtained  from  strictly  German  sources. 

Dr.  Scheele  now  made  a  few  experiments 
and  quickly  evolved  a  bomb  that  was  as  simple 
as  it  was  efficient.  It  consisted  merely  of  a 
section  of  lead  pipe,  about  two  and  a  half 
inches  in  diameter  and  three  or  four  inches 
long.  This  cylinder  was  separated  into  two 
water-tight  compartments  by  a  thin  disk  of 
the  sheet  tin.  In  one  of  the  two  compartments 
was  placed  a  chemical,  and  in  the  other  a 
corrosive  acid.  The  ends  were  then  sealed 
and  the  bomb  was  complete.  The  acid  slowly 
ate  its  way  through  the  tin  partition,  and  when 
at  length  a  tiny  hole  was  made,  the  acid  and 
the  chemical  mingled  and  their  action  was  to 
produce,  without  noise,  a  heat  so  intense 
that  it  melted  the  lead  in  the  cylinder  and  the 
whole  bomb  flowed  down  into  a  molten  mass 

272 


DR.  SCHEELE,  CHEMICAL  SPY 

so  fervent  that  it  would  ignite  any  ordinary 
substance,  such  as  coal  or  wood.  No  timing 
mechanism  was  necessary.  The  thickness  of 
the  tin  partition  determined  the  time  at  which 
the  bomb  would  act.  By  careful  experiment. 
Dr.  Scheele  was  able  to  manufacture  bombs 
that  would  become  effective  in  two  days,  four 
days,  six  days,  eight  days — at  will.  For  ex- 
ample, if  the  tin  partition  was  made  one 
sixtieth  of  an  inch  in  thickness,  the  bomb 
would  operate  in  forty-eight  hours.  The  thick- 
ness necessary  for  the  longer  periods  was  es- 
tablished by  actual  test. 

As  soon  as  the  bomb  was  perfected,  its 
manufacture  was  undertaken  on  a  big  scale. 
Soon  the  workroom  aboard  the  Friedrich  der 
Grosse  was  turning  out  thirty-five  of  these 
"cigars,"  as  the  Germans  called  them,  every 
day.  Altogether,  before  the  game  became  too 
dangerous  and  Dr.  Scheele  was  forced  to  flee, 
nearly  five  hundred  bombs  were  manufactured. 

Next  came  the  necessity  for  an  organization 
to  place  these  bombs  upon  the  ships.  First, 
the  ships  themselves  must  be  known — their 
sailing  dates,  their  names,  their  berths  and 
cargoes.  Through  German  sources  of  informa- 
tion, the  data  about  merchant  ships  were 
gathered  and  by  Dr.  Carl  Schimmel,  another 
German  agent  in  New  York  City,  were  listed  and 

273 


FIGHTING  GERMANY'S  SPIES 

classified.     These   records  were   placed   at   the 
disposal  of  the  bomb-placing  squad. 

Captain  Carl  Wolpert  was  in  charge  of  this 
work.  He  was  the  superintendent  of  the  Atlas 
Line,  a  subsidiary  of  the  Hamburg-American 
Steamship  Company,  and  an  officer  of  the 
German  Naval  Reserve.  Armed  by  Scheele 
with  the  '* cigars,"  by  Schimmel  with  the 
list  of  ships,  and  by  Von  Rintelen  with  un- 
limited money,  Wolpert  chose  a  group  of  trusted 
lieutenants  from  among  the  Germans  in  New 
York.  These  men  frequented  the  water-front 
and  the  neighbouring  saloons,  where  they  sought 
out  stevedores,  who  could  be  bribed  to  place 
the  bombs  where  they  were  directed.  For- 
tunately for  the  lives  of  seamen  and  for  the 
property  of  the  Allies,  many  of  these  men 
took  the  German  money  but  threw  the  bombs 
into  the  bay.  Enough,  however,  earned  their 
blood  money  so  that  many  ships  were  set  afire 
on  their  voyage  across  the  Atlantic,  some  of 
them  burning  to  the  water's  edge,  most  of 
them  being  greatly  damaged,  the  total  loss 
figuring  well  up  in  the  millions  of  dollars.  Many 
a  captain  in  mid-ocean  fought  the  flames  on 
his  vessel,  from  the  second  or  third  day  of  his 
voyage,  all  the  way  into  port.  A  fire  would 
break  out  in  his  bunker  coal;  it  might  be 
quenched,  only  to  break  out  in  the  cargo  two 

274 


DR.  SCHEELE,  CHEMICAL  SPY 

days  later,  and  perhaps  a  day  after  that  start  up 
again  in  the  coal. 

This  fiendish  work  was  done  in  cold  blood, 
do  not  forget,  at  the  command  of  the  Imperial 
German  Government,  at  its  expense,  under  the 
direction  of  one  of  its  most  highly  placed 
aristocrats,  by  one  of  Germany's  greatest  chem- 
ists, with  the  cooperation  of  officers  of  the 
German  Navy  and  with  the  cognizance  of  the 
German  Ambassador  to  our  friendly  Govern- 
ment. Here  was  no  passion  of  battle,  no 
extemporized  savagery  of  revenge.  It  was  a 
calculated  atrocity,  perpetrated  by  the  highest 
authorities  of  one  of  the  most  "civilized"  of 
the  "Christian"  nations,  using  the  most  tech- 
nical processes  of  one  of  the  most  complex 
arts  of  modern  life.  The  magic  by  which  the 
slimy  refuse  of  burning  coal  is  transmuted  into 
dyes  which  give  to  paints  and  fabrics  the 
splendour  of  the  dawn  and  the  beauty  of  the 
rose,  was  here  debased  to  the  infamous  uses 
of  treachery  and  murder. 


THE    END 


275 


THE  COUNTRY  LIFE  PRESS 
GARDEN  CITY,  N.  Y. 


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